Baltic Sea action plan taking shape

2279, 09/03/07

Countries bordering the Baltic reviewed progress on preparing a wide-ranging Baltic sea action plan at a meeting in Helsinki this week.  The talks were held at the annual meeting of the Baltic sea protection commission, Helcom.

"Helcom has now entered the final and most crucial phase in the development of the Baltic sea action plan, when all concrete actions must be identified and detailed," said Anne-Christine Brusendorff, Helcom's Executive Secretary.  "We now need strong political commitment to agree on purposeful and wide-ranging actions."

The draft action plan was launched a year ago and focuses on eutrophication, biodiversity, maritime activities and hazardous substances (EED 09/03/06 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/20553).  It is due to be finalised in November.

Nordic countries want it to be seen as a pilot project for regional cooperation (EED 25/11/05 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/19903) in the development of marine protection strategies to be required under an EU marine directive being negotiated in Brussels (EED 18/12/06 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/22284).

Delegates approved general directions for the plan but stressed that more detailed measures still need to be defined.  Helcom countries also approved a new official recommendation on collaboration on oil spill emergency response.

At a stakeholder conference held on the eve of the main meeting, speakers called for radical measures to combat continuing eutrophication.  Robust action must be taken to change the Baltic from a green "pea soup" of algae to a "clear fish soup" said one.

The Swedish and Finnish environment ministers Stefan Wallin and Andreas Carlgren called for a full investigation into the costs and benefits of alternative strategies.  Some stakeholders called for a cap and trade system to be introduced for nutrient emissions.

A major report on ongoing and predicted climate change in the Baltic was presented at the Helcom meeting.  It predicts warming of up to five degrees Celcius by the end of the century, higher rainfall, warmer sea temperatures and further reductions in winter sea ice. The changes are expected to have dramatic repercussions for biodiversity and eutrophication in the Baltic.

Follow-up: See Helcom http://www.helcom.fi/, and press releases on annual meeting

http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/HELCOM28_Outcome/

and stakeholder conference http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/2ndStakeholderConference/;

Swedish/Finnish proposal http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=224887&lan=sv and

climate change report http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/Climate_Change_Assessment/.

ENDS Europe Daily is Europe's leading environmental news service. A free trial is available by clicking on the following link:http://www.endseuropedaily.com/web/helcom .