Azerbaijan will host the first meeting of an intergovernmental commission tasked with addressing the declining water level of the Caspian Sea in the first half of 2027.

The decision was made at the Caspian Environmental Summit, attended by the leaders of the five Caspian littoral states: Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, according to Report.

The commission will include deputy heads of government from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, along with senior representatives from Iran and Russia.

Future meetings will rotate among the five countries according to the alphabetical order of their names in English.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev proposed establishing the commission, or specialized working and expert groups, to study the Caspian Sea’s falling water level.

At the Sixth Summit of Caspian Littoral States in Ashgabat on June 29, 2022, President Aliyev highlighted the rapid shallowing of the sea as a serious environmental concern.

He called for joint expert groups involving specialists from all five countries to investigate the causes of the problem and develop measures to prevent its consequences.