HELCOM to hold the Fourth Stakeholder Conference on the Baltic recovery plan

Helsinki, 11 December (HELCOM Information Service) - The Helsinki Commission today announced that it will hold the Fourth Stakeholder Conference on the Baltic Sea Action Plan on 3 March 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. The major focus of this international conference is on the implementation of a set of strategic measures within the plan to drastically reduce pollution to the marine environment and restore its good ecological status by 2021. Senior Government Officials, representatives of science and business communities, and various organisations from around the Baltic Sea will particularly discuss political, economic and scientific pre-requisites for timely and successfully achieving a healthy Baltic Sea.

“A good knowledge basis grounded on thematic assessments of the marine environment, the economic perspectives of protecting the marine environment and regional co-operation for taking cost-effective measures are of utmost importance for putting the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan into practice, and these are the three essential building blocks for successfully implementing it,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “Therefore, the theme of the 2009 HELCOM Stakeholder Conference is “Building blocks for a cost-effective implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan”.

HELCOM’s plan is considered an initiative of the highest political importance in the region. The Baltic Sea, which can be called the motorway for growth and prosperity of the region, has enormous importance to all the coastal countries. The long term economic and social well-being of the 85 million people living in the catchment area of the Baltic Sea highly depends on the state of the marine environment and therefore, the implementation of the plan will not only restore a healthy environment but will also be a driving force for growth and employment.

HELCOM’s plan has already been heralded as a forerunner and a model example to be followed by other regional seas conventions. It is the first bold attempt by a regional marine protection commission to implement the innovative eco-system approach to obtain a good environmental status of the marine environment. The HELCOM plan has also been seen as instrumental in implementing obligations under other international legislative frameworks, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the EU Maritime Policy. The currently evolving EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is also expected to draw heavily from the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in its environmental as well as safety and security pillars.

“The success of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan will largely depend on how all the coastal countries and involved stakeholders, including international financial organisations, can co-operate to achieve the goal of a healthy Baltic Sea environment,” says Brusendorff. “The overall state of the Baltic Sea can only be further improved through our combined efforts and integrated actions. And HELCOM has a very important role in ensuring that all combined efforts are effective.”

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. 

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.fi