Stakeholder Conference on the Development of the

HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

Helsinki, 7 March 2006

Mr. Arturas Daubaras

Chairman

HELCOM

Chairman's opening remark

I am happy to welcome you to this Stakeholder Conference where we will jointly discuss what kind of Baltic Sea we all would like to have in the future, and what we mean with: “healthy sea” and “good ecological status”.

“Healthy sea” and “good ecological status” are key words in the Ecosystem Approach to managing human activities that affect the environment. The health of the Baltic is a concern for all of us – as it has been shown more than 30 years ago when the Baltic Coastal States decided to join forces within the Helsinki Commission.

HELCOM has a vision – a Baltic Sea where all its components are in balance guaranteeing diversity of life and supporting also a wide range of sustainable human use of its goods.

To define our goals, HELCOM aims at a Baltic Sea which is not affected by eutrophication and its life is undisturbed by hazardous substances. The maritime activities should be carried out in an environmentally friendly way.

A healthy Baltic Sea will sustain the future of various activities dependent on its well-being. Naturally there will also be costs involved – but these costs have to be compared to impacts from a further degradation of the marine environment stemming from a “business-as-usual” approach.

As our starting point we would like to have Ecological Objectives that are based on the unique characteristics of our Baltic marine ecosystem. With the Ecological Objectives we can describe and define the state of the Baltic Sea marine environment which we together are aiming at.

Such a common understanding of the future health status of our common Baltic Sea will provide a coherent framework for an integrated policy-sector approach and will guide activities and initiatives at national, regional and global level.

This will ensure a holistic starting point where the protection of the marine environment is at the centre with the main aim being to achieve a healthy marine environment, as opposed to a situation where measures are taken on a sector-by-sector approach, to prevent marine pollution.

On a global-scale there is recognition of the need to implement an ecosystem-based management approach. This was set off in the 1992 Rio Declaration, is incorporated in the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, and was reiterated at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. On the Baltic scale, the approach by HELCOM has attained recognition and support by the 13th Ministerial Session of the Council of the Baltic Sea States; the 6th VASAB Conference of Ministers responsible for spatial planning and development of the Baltic Sea Region; the 14th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference; and the Baltic Sea Informal Meeting for Ministers of the Environment in 2005.

I look forward to your inputs and active participation during this stakeholder conference, to ensure that we can make progress in our daily work through the implementation of the ecosystem-based approach.

Before we start I will give the word to the HELCOM Executive Secretary, Anne Christine Brusendorff, who will introduce today’s programme, and link this to further HELCOM activities.