This book analyzes the legal and economic situation concerning the removal and allocation of the natural resources in the Caspian Sea the largest enclosed body of salt water in the world, which not only constitutes a fragile ecosystem with great fishery resources, but is also rich in oil and gas deposits. The economic advantages gained from the development of oil and gas are the basis for the economic and social development of the riparian states, but also cause significant transboundary harm to the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. The book contends that, if the local environment grows more heavily contaminated through the extraction of mineral resources, it could lead to environmentally induced violence. It describes the ongoing conflicts, which are primarily due to various riparian states' territorial claims concerning the extraction of oil and gas resources, and argues that the current legal framework on the use and protection of the Caspian Sea is obsolete. Thus, the main objective of the book is to point out corresponding international legal mechanisms that could be used in order to settle these disputes and protect the Caspian Sea's fragile environment from transboundary harm.

Overview of existing legal framework on development of natural resources of the Caspian Sea Special emphasis on the legal requirement regarding the protection of the unique ecosystem of the Caspian Sea Legal assessment of the possible future resolution of the interstate dispute over the use of natural resources of the Caspian Sea Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt

Introduction and course of the investigation.- Geography, politics and economy in the Caspian Sea.- Legal history and the present state of use of the Caspian resources.- Cooperation levels in Caspian states' practice in the 1990s.- Interrelations between territorial delimitations and the regime of the use of the Caspian Sea.- The regime for the use of non-living resources in the Caspian Sea.- The legal regime of the living resources of the Caspian Sea.- The legal regime of the pipelines in the Caspian Sea.- The legal regime of maritime shipping on the Caspian Sea.- Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.- Concluding remarks.