Environmental Challenges in the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan: Interview with Vadim Ni

The KELP FARMS team interviewed Vadim Ni, a Kazakhstani ecologist, director of the Social-Environmental Foundation, lawyer, and environmental law specialist who participated in developing environmental legislation in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The discussion covered environmental problems in the Caspian Sea, prospects for KELP FARMS development in Kazakhstan, and opportunities for cooperation between government, business, and civil society in environmental conservation.

The Social-Environmental Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2007 to carry out activities in environmental protection and promote sustainable development in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Environmental Challenges in Kazakhstan

KELP FARMS: Could you tell us about your organization’s main activities?

Vadim Ni: Our primary focus is supporting environmental campaigns, as well as information activities and youth outreach. Our current campaign is called «Save the Caspian Sea,» which includes working with local communities in the Caspian coastal cities of Atyrau and Aktau.

The Caspian Sea faces three major problems. First is its current shrinking. This is related to climate change, largely due to reduced flow from the Volga River, which previously provided 80-85% of the inflow to the Caspian Sea. We have now exceeded the record low level of minus 29 meters according to the Baltic system, and this is already visually apparent. In the Aktau area, this is visible through the retreat of the coastline, and in the Ural River delta near Atyrau, through the formation of new islands.

The second source of concern is pollution from oil companies and other industries, as well as from ships operating on the Volga and Caspian. Our latest finding: there are oil spills in the Caspian related to ships discharging ballast water without entering ports. This also leads to oil spills. The greatest threat comes from the presence of oil fields, as Kazakhstan conducts offshore oil extraction, particularly at the major Kashagan field.

The third problem is biodiversity loss. It’s evident that the Caspian has already lost its most iconic fauna species, such as sturgeon fish. There has also been a significant decline in the population of the endemic Caspian seal. These animals are dying en masse more and more frequently, and the causes are never fully determined. We believe the main reason is the declining ability of this population to cope with increasing pollution, including that related to oil extraction, the spread of pollutants, and hydrogen sulfide (Kazakhstani Caspian oil has high sulfur content).

Birds are also dying. We try to use scientific data whenever possible, but when it’s unavailable or questionable, reports from the population about mass deaths of both Caspian seals and birds become an important indicator. These animals physically suffer from flaring and pollution. Not all cases of animal and bird deaths are officially recorded: local authorities and oil companies try to remove them quickly. Residents often report discovering them, only to find they’ve disappeared from the site within a day or two.

We work on these three areas, involving local communities and the parliamentary body. We held discussions with the relevant committee of our parliament on Caspian pollution and implementation of the Tehran Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. This convention came into force almost 20 years ago, in 2006, but no real results have been achieved yet. We try to create platforms for interstate dialogue. For all this to work, public pressure is necessary. We also pressure oil companies and other projects operating in the Caspian.

KELP FARMS and Marine Restoration

KELP FARMS: How do you view the idea of saving seas, including the Caspian, using sanitary farms of brown algae Cystoseira, as proposed by KELP FARMS?

Vadim Ni: This is certainly a promising idea. Oil pollution is currently a particularly acute problem for the Caspian, as we have to manage with our own resources here. We cannot call for outside help to quickly address oil spill problems. Countries’ capabilities are very limited. Such algae sanitary farms could be established as barriers around ports and oil platforms, solving these problems within relatively short timeframes.

KELP FARMS conducted research on cleaning seawater from fuel oil, and the results are very promising. However, more detailed and diverse research is needed to fully confirm this method’s effectiveness.
There are global studies on other algae species, including invasive varieties that spread very rapidly. In the case of Cystoseira, it’s particularly advantageous that it’s a farm that can be removed at any time.

The second important aspect that needs investigation is the possibility of using carbon credits. Cystoseira algae lives only three to five years, so it cannot be considered a carbon sink like terrestrial forests. After completing its cycle, the algae absorbs a certain amount of carbon, but then as biomass decomposes, the carbon is released again. Therefore, it needs to be fixed in something. It makes sense to carefully study how feasible it is to use these algae, for example, as biofuel.

This has potential given that Kazakhstan’s water volume is limited, and algae are particularly good as a direction for reducing carbon emissions if converted to biofuel. Of course, there are many questions related to methodology availability, recognition of these methodologies, and possibilities for biofuel use. Complex projects require a serious approach to organizing the entire cycle.

KELP FARMS: So KELP FARMS could help Kazakhstan?

Vadim Ni: It could help if people and companies who have influence in this area are interested in it. That’s essentially what we do: we create company interest in finding solutions and undertaking their development. Of course, requirements for companies must be revised at the state level, then we can clearly present demands to them: if you emit greenhouse gases, please reduce these emissions; if you pollute the sea, then you must clean it.

Currently, they receive carbon quotas for free! In the next period, we plan to work on transitioning the system to paid greenhouse gas quotas. In this regard, we are more advanced than other post-Soviet countries: our quota system was created after Europe, Switzerland, and Norway. I developed this system myself, but since 2013, it hasn’t moved forward in terms of companies actually purchasing these quotas. In this case, they would have a choice: either buy quotas, which should have an appropriate price, or invest in carbon-reducing projects.

Environmental Advocacy Success Stories

KELP FARMS: Have you managed to influence Kazakhstan’s environmental situation in any way? Are there successful cases?

Vadim Ni: The Social-Environmental Foundation has managed to stop quite large projects. One was related to importing radioactive waste to Kazakhstan for burial—there was such an idea in the early 2000s. Not long ago, we stopped a project to develop our mountains, to build a ski resort, but now the government is returning to this issue again.

We constantly work with the Climate Policy Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We can advance certain things at the legislative level, but we cannot force companies to pay for quotas. Unfortunately, there is currently no political will to implement this system.

Regional Cooperation

KELP FARMS: Is there any cooperation between ecologists from different countries that share the Caspian?

Vadim Ni: So far, we’ve only managed this with Russians and Turkmens. That’s precisely why we want to hold a round table with experts from different countries in August this year.

Business and Environmental Responsibility

KELP FARMS: Why do you think people in general, especially business representatives, are so irresponsible toward the environment, as if they don’t think about the future at all?

Vadim Ni: I’m less familiar with the Russian system, but I know Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia well. In recent years, there has been a process of protecting business from corruption. Indeed, inspectors used their powers for personal gain, including taking bribes. But on the other hand, this was an instrument of pressure on companies. Now they try to ensure that no one bothers business: they warn companies in advance that inspectors will come for inspection. If there’s no political signal that a certain large company needs to be held accountable, then usually no one touches them, because there are no conditions for it.

There’s no constant monitoring of their activities, and therefore no understanding of what can be demanded from a company. Therefore, we somewhat fill this gap in the inspection system by raising the question that oil spills exist, so why aren’t you doing anything? Naturally, they deflect. The Ministry of Ecology says that what appears on satellite images was «a shadow from something.» But this isn’t true, because modern satellite images allow for glare removal.

KELP FARMS: But why don’t business and government representatives think about this themselves? After all, if not they themselves, then their children and grandchildren will live in this world that they so thoughtlessly pollute!

Vadim Ni: They don’t want to take any measures because these are additional costs, and they need to recover their investments as quickly as possible. For example, for the Kashagan oil field, costs were initially high—after all, this is extraction under very harsh conditions. On the other hand, it’s no secret that these costs were inflated due to corruption.

Public Awareness and Engagement

KELP FARMS: What can be done specifically to change attitudes toward the problem? Are some government educational programs needed so people begin to understand that ecology is important, so the population itself demands environmental compliance from authorities? But the population doesn’t demand this either; they’re largely indifferent too.

Vadim Ni: No, that’s not true. Of course, it’s not the majority of the population, but there are people who do care. When we organize our campaigns, we usually raise a specific issue and then identify people who are ready to support this position and have influence in their community.

There aren’t very many of them yet, but gradually this circle is expanding. We constantly and quite actively receive appeals on various ecology-related issues.

Major Environmental Challenges

KELP FARMS: What are Kazakhstan’s most serious environmental problems, besides the Caspian?

Vadim Ni: The same mountain development in Almaty is planned at budget expense, among other funding. This is an economic project, but I see that it’s inappropriate (there’s an idea that Almaty could become a tourism center, but actually there are no basic conditions for tourism). There’s also urban pollution: more and more transport, and coal heating continues. Water is another issue, since we depend more than 50% on water inflow from other countries, and this inflow is decreasing. Rising temperatures also lead to increased water needs, and the population is growing. These are probably the most acute problems.

Effective Environmental Communication

KELP FARMS: How do you think environmental information should be presented? It seems many people are distant from these problems, simply don’t think about them. How can we reach them?

Vadim Ni: First and foremost, environmental information needs to be accessible and understandable. Scientists like to complicate it, making it incomprehensible to most of the population. Why is plastic pollution popular as an issue? Because it’s understandable. People constantly see this plastic themselves; they have piles of it at home. Environmental problems need to be connected to the lives of those people for whom this is truly a tangible threat. And of course, it’s very important to attract the attention of those who can voice these issues so their voice is heard and influential in the community. Finally, technical aspects: modern consumers watch more than they read, so this should be video rather than anything else.