Oil, Gas, and Environment in the Caspian

A timely discussion on the environmental impacts of hydrocarbon development in the Caspian Sea basin, with a focus on Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Hosted by Nick Menzies, Assistant Director of UCLA’s Asia Institute, the panel features environmental leaders from the Caspian region, providing a unique opportunity to learn about the oil and gas projects already underway and about the prospects for the future development. 

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the countries bordering the Caspian Sea—Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan—have attracted increasing attention from corporations, governments and financial institutions alike, all of which seek to secure a stake in the region’s vast petroleum reserves. Increasingly, these policy issues impact US consumers, policy makers and others concerned with the role of energy in the international arena and environmental security both at home and abroad.

Panelists

Kate Watters,Executive Director of the environmental justice organization Crude Accountability, which works with oil and gas communities in the Caspian Sea basin.

Andrey Aranbaev, a pioneering and highly respected leader in the environmental and civil society sectors of Turkmenistan.

Svetlana Anosova, a music teacher turned community leader who is leading a courageous campaign in her Kazakhstani village to uncover the truth about toxic pollution from a major oil and gas field located a mere five kilometers away.

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Duration: 54:23