St. Petersburg to host VIII International Baltic Sea Day

Helsinki, 20 March (HELCOM Information Service) – More than 400 participants from all the Baltic Sea countries, including government officials, diplomats, scientists and business leaders, as well as representatives of the European Commission, major regional organizations, and NGO’s are expected to attend the VIII International Environmental Forum “Baltic Sea Day”, which will be held on 22-23 March in St. Petersburg, to discuss joint international actions needed to reduce pollution to the Baltic Sea and restore its good ecological status.

The Baltic Sea Day is considered as an important regional forum to stimulate public awareness of the state of the Baltic marine environment, enhance political attention to existing problems and develop support towards actions needed to protect the common sea.

The Forum, which has been observed annually in St. Petersburg since 2000, was established based on the decision of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), which is an intergovernmental organisation of the Baltic Sea coastal countries and the EU for the protection of the Baltic marine environment. The Baltic Sea Day is organised by St. Petersburg Public Organisation “Ecology and Business” with active support from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, governments of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, as well as governments and financial institutions of the Baltic Sea countries.

“The International Environmental Forum “Baltic Sea Day”, held annually on HELCOM’s birthday, has become an increasingly important part of the international dialogue on environmental protection issues in the region. Over the past several years, this Forum has been a big success, attracting many hundreds of participants from all countries of the region, and beyond. Established to support and promote the work of the Helsinki Commission, it has done a great deal of valuable work in increasing public concern for the state of the Baltic Sea, and strengthening international co-operation among the Baltic Sea countries,” said Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.

One of the major themes of this year’s Forum will be the preparation of an ambitious HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, which is currently being designed by the coastal countries to dramatically reduce pollution and reverse the degradation of the Baltic Sea. HELCOM has just recently unveiled the first blue print for actions, and has now commenced the final stage in the development of the strategy, which is due to be adopted at a Ministerial Meeting in November in Krakow, Poland. 

“This year’s Baltic Sea Day is particularly important as we are going to discuss the initial outline of the strategic plan to rescue the troubled sea. This plan, which we’ve been developing since 2005, includes wide-scale actions to further reduce pollution in the Baltic Sea and repair the damage done to the marine environment. Its major objective is to achieve the agreed goal of a Baltic Sea unaffected by eutrophication, undisturbed by pollution involving hazardous substances, with favourable biodiversity and environmentally friendly maritime activities,” said Brusendorff.

The programme of the Forum includes plenary and sectional sessions (round tables) on a wide range of topics. Besides the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, participants will look into such issues as the trilateral co-operation in the Gulf of Finland, sustainable agriculture in the Baltic Sea region, the problems of eutrophication and reduction of nutrient loads to the Gulf of Finland, tourism and ecology, the EU Marine Strategy and Water Framework Directive, the new Northern Dimension Policy, as well as the environmental impact assessment of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project.

Keynote speakers at the plenary session will include senior officials of the Government of St. Petersburg, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service under the Russian Government (Rosprirodnadzor), the Ecology Committee of the State Duma, the European Commission, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Nordic Council, the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, COWI consulting group, and Vodokanal-St.Petersburg.

Follow-up: SPbOO “Ecology and Business” notice on the VIII International Baltic Sea Day http://www.helcom.ru/bsd2007/index_en.html, and the programme of the Forum http://www.helcom.ru/bsd2007/programm_en.html , Organising Committee tel. +7 812 982-94-37

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (more widely known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM) works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the countries bordering the sea - Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.