1.0 Organization of the Session
1.1 Opening Ceremony 1.1.1 At the kind invitation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Fourth Session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology and Pollution Monitoring of the Caspian Sea was held from 7-8 September 1999 at the Conference Room of the I.R. of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO), Headquarters. 1.1.2 Dr. Noorian, Vice-Minister of Roads and Transportation, President of the I.R. of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO) and Second Vice-President of WMO, inaugurated the Fourth Session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology and Pollution Monitoring of the Caspian Sea. He heartily welcomed all the participants and wished them a happy stay in Tehran. In his opening speech, Dr. Noorian highlighted the importance of the regional cooperation and stressed on initiatives that had been taken by Coordinating Committee and in support of the sustainable development of the Caspian Sea States. He stated that joint activities would lead to the recognition of the needs and provide opportunity to establish appropriate infrastructure in advance for next generations. The Vice-Minister of Roads and Transportation emphasized on the important role of the Coordinating Committee and mentioned the accomplishments of a number of activities including the comprehensive project of CASPAS Programme as an outcome that could serve the socio-economic development of the Caspian Sea States. He urged all littoral states to make their best efforts for resources mobilization and invited donor countries and organizations to assist on realization of the objectives of the above-mentioned programme. 1.1.3 Dr. Z.F. Musaev, the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee, welcomed all the participants and wished them a successful session. He also thanked the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting the session and providing excellent facilities. The Chairman of the Committee highlighted the achievements of the Committee and emphasized on the importance of exchanging data and information on hydrometeorology and pollution monitoring of environment in the Caspian Sea region. He encouraged the National Hydrometeorological Services to work more closely through the Coordinating Committee. The Chairman thanked WMO and others for their support and wished the participants a successful session and pleasant stay in Tehran. 1.1.4 Mr. E.H. Al-Majed, the WMO Regional Director for Asia and the South - West Pacific, on behalf of the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Prof. G.O.P. Obasi thanked the Government of the I.R. of Iran for organizing the session and for the excellent facilities provided. He also thanked Dr. A.M. Noorian, Vice Minister of Roads and Transportation and President of IRIMO and his staff for the warm reception and excellent arrangement made for the session. He mentioned that WMO was pleased that the Governments of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan had taken a number of measures on the priority basis, to address the state of the Caspian Sea. An integrated programme was developed with the aims to contribute to the establishment of a regional system to carry out comprehensive study of the changes on the level of the Caspian Sea and pollution monitoring. In this regard, regional cooperation and collaboration by all the States concerned which share common environmental challenges is needed for formulation and implementation of the programme. Mr. Al-Majed expressed sincere thanks on behalf of WMO, to the Government of Italy, UNDP, UNESCO, European Union, the World Bank and others who have indicated their willingness to contribute in a way or an other to the CASPAS. 1.1.5 General Carlo Finizio, the President of Regional Association VI (Europe) and Director of the Italian Meteorological Service in his addressed speech thanked the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its invitation to attend the session. He mentioned that the Government of Italy would support the proposal made by the Coordinating Committee on modernization of the Hydrometeorological Services and cooperate with the countries of the Caspian Sea. He added that his Government would work with the Commission of the European Union in order to obtain the financial support to the proposed project. 1.1.6 Prof. Franco Prodi as a scientist highlighted the importance of the CASPAS Programme in particular its role on monitoring the sea level of the Caspian Sea. He expressed hopes that the project includes the modern technologies of remote sensing for monitoring and for modelling purposes. He assured the session that he would make efforts in supporting the initiatives of the Members of the Committee. 1.1.7 There were 40 participants who have attended the session. The list of participants is given in Annex I. 2.0 Approval of the Agenda 2.1 The session adopted the Agenda as given in Annex II. 2.2 Working Arrangement 2.2.1 The Session agreed that the Working hours is from : Morning Session : 09.30 - 12.00 hrs Afternoon Session : 15.00 - 18.00 hrs 3.0 Reports of Caspian Sea Littoral States, International Organizations, Invited Experts and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 3.1 Report by the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee 3.1.1 Dr. Z.F. Musaev, the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee submitted his report to the session (see Annex III). The following were main points: - NMHSs to establish close working relations with the oil companies working around the Caspian Sea in order to introduce the CASPAS programme. - Representatives of nearly all Caspian Sea NMHSs took an active part in a number of meetings and seminars including Caspian Environmental Programme (CEP), IAE, International Seminar under the NATO and others. - Presentation of CASPAS Programme to the Commission of the European Union, TACIS was made by the Chairman. - Signing of the Protocol of Informal Meeting of Caspian Sea Region with the representatives of Caspian Sea States and Italy in Geneva in May 1999. - NMHSs to take necessary urgent steps in order to improve exchange of data and information between the Caspian Sea States. 3.1.2 The Committee expressed its appreciation to the Chairman of the Committee for the excellent report and work done. 3.2 National Reports of Caspian Sea Littoral States 3.2.1 All five Caspian Sea countries gave brief update on the status of their present and future activities and projects. They worked closely with each other and WMO. They all stressed on the need to increase the exchange of data and information by having better Global Telecommunication System (GTS) links. The need to exchange experience among the National Meteorological Hydrological Services (NMHSs) on studies and research on sea level fluctuation and pollution monitoring. This could be done individually and collectively within the framework of the Coordinating Committee. They expressed their appreciation to WMO and to the Italian Government for their offer to assist on the implementation of a project for the Caspian Sea countries. Written reports are given in Annexes IV and V. 3.3 Reports by the Representative of International Organizations 3.3.1 The WMO Representative provided a brief update on the activities of WMO since the last session of the Committee. 3.4 Presentations of Invited Experts, Observers and NGOs 3.4.1 Prof. Franco Prodi, invited expert made a useful presentation on the new technology in remote sensing and satellite that could be used for the CASPAS Programme. The session expressed its appreciation to Prof. Prodi for his excellent presentation. 3.4.2 The representative from Armenia expressed his appreciation to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for inviting Armenia to this important session. He highlighted the activities of the Hydrometeorological Service and assured the members of the Committee that Armenia would work very closely with them and would be able to contribute to the activities of the Committee. 3.4.3 The representative of Non-Governmental Organization, Mrs. Farvar gave a brief presentation on the activities of the Center for Ecodevelopment Studies and Application (CENESTA). which was appreciated by the participants.
4.0 Report of the CASPAS Coordinator on New initiatives for Implementation of the project.
4.1 The Agenda items 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 were discussed as one item ( 4.0.) 4.2 Dr. A. Maximov, the Chairman of the Working Group of Expert on Development of Projects informed the participants on his activities since the last session. He had drafted a proposal of project entitled "Modernization and Development of the Hydrometeorology Network and Network of Observation of Environmental Pollution in the Caspian Sea Region". This proposal was based on Protocol of the Informal Meeting of the representatives of NMHSs from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakstan, Russian Federation and Italy signed in Geneva on 5 May 1999. The draft project proposal was based on the understanding that financial assistance will be requested from the Commission of the European Union, through the Technical Assistance for Commonwealth and Independent States (TACIS), which would be channeled through the World Meteorological Organization. 4.3 The representatives of the Italian Government made presentations on their role in supporting the proposed project. 4.4 The Committee expressed its appreciation to the ad-hoc Working Group which was established during the session. It submitted a revised draft project proposal. The Committee considered the comments made by the various members and approved the proposed project as given in Annex VI. 4.5 The Committee requested that the Chairman of the Working Group on Development of Projects to incorporate all comments and amend the draft proposal and then send it to the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee. 4.6 The Committee requested the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee to forward the proposed project document to the Secretary General of WMO for subsequent transmission to General C. Finizio, Permanent Representative of Italy with WMO for submission through Government of Italy to the Commission of the European Union. 4.7 The WMO was requested to finalize the project and coordinate with the members of the Committee, the Italian Government and Commission of the European Union on the preparatory phases in view to implement the proposed project. 5.0 Discussion on Methods of Exchange of Data and Experience on Monitoring Network Among Hydrometeorological Services of Caspian Sea Littoral States. 5.1 The Committee requested the Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee to study the situation and submit a report to the next session of the Committee.6.0 Election of Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Coordinating Committee 6.1 The Fourth Session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology and Pollution Monitoring of the Caspian Sea unanimously elected Dr. A.M. Noorian, (Islamic Republic of Iran), as Chairman and Mr. Tursynbek Kudekov (Kazakstan), as Vice Chairman of the Committee.
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.0 Other Matters 7.1. The Committee requested the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee to consult with the Members on the participation of countries and / or international organizations three months before the date of the next session. 7.2 WMO was requested to provide assistance to the Members of the Committee in translating and printing two monographs on hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea from Russian language into English. 7.3 The Committee was requested to consider including to its activities and programmes concerning issues of liquid and solid wastes, radio active and disposal of materials into the Caspian Sea. It was also suggested to establish network of stations of Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) for measuring the above-mentioned. The Committee agreed to consider these issues at its next session. 8.0 Date and Place of the Next Session 8.1 The Committee welcomed with appreciation the kind invitation of the Government of the Kazakstan Republic to hold the Fifth Session of the Coordinating Committee in Atrau, in September / October 2000.9.0 Closure of the Session 9.1 The Vice-Chairman, on behalf of the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee, thanked the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the excellent facilities provided and the participants for their active cooperation which made the session successful. 9.2 The participants expressed their gratitude to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the staff of IRIMO especially the Local Secretariat for their hospitality and excellent working conditions. They also expressed their thanks to the representatives of the Italian Government for their support, the observers, invited experts and to WMO representatives for their active participation in the session. They had also appreciated the work of Dr. A. Maximov, the Chairman of the Working Group for his valuable work. 9.3 The participants also extended their appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Z.F. Mousaev for his excellent work done during the past years as the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee and Dr. A.M. Noorian for his active role in the activities of the work of the Committee. 9.4 The Fourth Session of the Coordinating Committee closed at 16.30 hrs on 8 September 1999.
Annex II
AGENDA
1.0 Opening of the Session 2.0 Approval of the Agenda 3.0 Reports of Caspian Sea Littoral States, International Organizations, Invited experts and Non - Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 3.1 Report of the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee 3.2 National Reports of the Caspian Sea Littoral States : 3.2.1 Republic of Azerbaijan 3.2.2 Republic of Kazakstan 3.2.3 Russian Federation 3.2.4 Turkmenistan 3.2.5 Islamic Republic of Iran 3.3 Presentations of Representatives of International Organizations Participating in the Session. 3.4 Presentations of Invited Experts, Observers and NGOs 3.4.1 Prof. Franco Prodi, (Invited Expert) 4.0 Report of the Chairman of the Working Group of Experts on the CASPAS programme on New Initiatives for its Implementation . 4.1 Exchange of Information on Projects Proposed by Caspian Sea Littoral States on the Methods to Utilize the Italian Financial Assistance 4.2 Review of Project Documents on “Establishment, Modernization and Development of Hydrometeorological Services Network in the Caspian Sea” by : 4.2.1 Russian Federation 4.2.2 Islamic Republic of Iran 5.0 Discussion on Methods of Exchange of Data and Experience on Monitoring Network Among Hydrometeorological Services of Caspian Sea Littoral States. 6.0 Election of Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Coordinating Committee 7.0 Other Matters 8.0 Date and Place of the Next Session 9.0 Closure of the Session
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