In celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day, a beach cleanup event was organised on September 21 by the COP29 Azerbaijan Operating Company in collaboration with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the “Regional Development” Public Union (RDPU).

The event took place along the Lankaran coastline of the Caspian Sea, with over 100 volunteers participating, including members from the Lankaran branch of the RDPU and COP29 volunteers. The cleanup effort spanned more than one kilometre of shoreline, successfully removing the plastic and other waste.

A total of 1,100 kilograms of waste was collected and handed over to the Lankaran Municipal Improvement Department for disposal. As with previous cleanup events, the data on the waste collected has been submitted to the global database of Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

Representatives from the Caspian Complex Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources were also on hand to brief volunteers on the current environmental state of the Caspian Sea, the importance of proper waste management, and the potential impact of mismanaged waste on marine ecosystems. Volunteers’ questions were addressed during the briefing.