2nd Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

Introduction by Mr. Mieczyslaw S. Ostojski

Chairman of the Helsinki Commission

Let me start by warmly welcoming you to this Second HELCOM Stakeholder Conference.

The aim of today’s Conference is to discuss actions to be included in the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan – a plan being designed to apply an ecosystem approach to managing human activities.

We will be presenting some ideas for actions that we, within HELCOM, have identified on the basis of the current knowledge we have of the existing problems in the Baltic marine environment. We would like to hear your views on these as well as your proposals for additional further actions.

Allow me to start by outlining the ecosystem approach and how we - within HELCOM - have applied this internationally recognized concept in order to make it operational in the Baltic Sea.

The ecosystem approach is centred on a vision and an aim to achieve a healthy Baltic marine environment with diverse biological components functioning in balance. This, both to ensure a Baltic Sea which is in good ecological status and can support a wide range of sustainable human economic and social activities. 

The ecosystem approach, therefore, builds upon concepts such as “favourable status of conservation” and “good ecological and environmental status”. With the help of the detailed monitoring and assessment work carried out within HELCOM, of the state of the Baltic marine environment, we have defined what is meant by a Baltic Sea in “good environmental status”.

Our monitoring and assessment work has pointed us towards four main environmental priority areas. For each of these we have delineated a strategic goal which is in line with our vision of a healthy Baltic Sea. Thus, our goals are to have a “Baltic Sea unaffected by eutrophication”, “Baltic Sea life undisturbed by hazardous substances” and “Maritime activities carried out in an environmentally friendly way”. The fulfilment of these three goals will naturally lead to the “Protection of landscapes, habitats and species” – although there is still a need for separate actions as well in order to obtain a “Favourable status of Baltic Sea biodiversity”. The status of the Baltic Sea biodiversity will thus function both as an indicative element of how well we are succeeding in our actions to combat eutrophication, cease the inputs of hazardous substances and minimise the environmental impacts of maritime activities and will also in itself require effective implementation of additional actions. The biodiversity segment thus points to human activities that have already been addressed, but also to additional activities not mentioned earlier but impacting the marine ecosystem, such as fisheries.

We have tried to make the ecological objectives easy to understand and to describe what we are aiming at and how we define “good ecological status”. Furthermore, we have identified quantifiable environmental targets and indicators, which through our monitoring programmes will allow us to measure our progress in achieving our objectives.

And here we are today; we now need to put into actions the objectives which stem from our overall vision and strategic goals for a healthy Baltic Sea. We will of course have to monitor the effectiveness of the actions we take, by using the associated indicators with targets – this in turn will allow us to make further adjustments to the actions so as to ensure that we will finally achieve our objectives.

In defining the actions we also want to take into account the ways in which we can achieve the most cost-beneficial and cost-effective actions.

It is important to state that HELCOM is not working within a vacuum in elaborating the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. We already have existing principles and obligations that apply to the protection of the marine environment. These naturally have to be fully implemented - and, where possible and needed, we have to investigate how to speed up their implementation as well as how to go beyond them and adopt additional requirements.

We also know that there are various on-going initiatives at the international level. We of course have to ensure that we coordinate and harmonize our work with these activities when developing the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. But we cannot stop our progress to wait and see what will happen in these other international fora. Rather we have to ensure that we, within HELCOM, take into account these developments and - based on our regional assessments of the state of the Baltic Sea and our HELCOM definition of a Baltic Sea in “good environmental status” – initiate and put forward joint positions as to the needed actions to reach our environmental targets for the Baltic Sea.

We realize that some pressures to the Baltic marine environment stem from sources outside the geographical scope of the HELCOM work and that some pressures are outside the decision-making powers of HELCOM. Nevertheless, our aim is for the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to apply the ecosystem approach and to focus on the integrated management of all human activities impacting on the Baltic marine environment. This requires that the governments of the nine Baltic Coastal States make use of common Baltic knowledge and priorities in policy making at the global, European, regional and national level. It also requires of the governments that they take into account in all policies and programmes the potential impact on the marine environment, having as the starting point the agreed sub-regional target levels, associated with the ecological objectives, and characteristic for good environmental status of the Baltic Sea, when deciding on needed management measures within different sectors. 

Only in this way can we ensure that the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan will function as a locomotive in obtaining a healthy Baltic Sea and will be instrumental within other organisations and programmes.

You will today hear presentations within the four segments of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. We will start with a presentation on measures to combat eutrophication, followed by a presentation on the cost-benefit and effectiveness of the proposed measures as well as a proposal for the development of a quota system for nutrient reduction.

Hereafter we will hear presentations on proposed measures within “Biodiversity and nature protection”, “Hazardous substances” and “Maritime activities”. Each presentation will be followed by comments from a major stakeholder in that particular field as well as by an open discussion.

Finally we will have a roundtable discussion, where we will try to sum up and get a grip on where we stand today in the preparation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan – and the specific actions to be included in this Plan. 

After each segment I would like to invite you to give your input the Plan; asking yourselves whether the actions we suggest are sufficient or whether you see a need for additional ones.

Once again I wish you welcome. We look forward to your active participation during this one day conference as we deem the active involvement of stakeholders, at many levels, as one of the main criteria for the successful development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. Let’s together make a joint effort to fully employ the opportunity given to us and on the 15th of November present to the Ministers and the Commissioner an Action Plan which will ensure a prudent utilisation of the Baltic marine goods and services, which will be built upon partnerships and which will substantially improve the environmental quality of our sea – the Baltic Sea.