International Conference to review latest assessments of the state of the Baltic Sea and implementation of HELCOM recovery activities

Helsinki, 23 February (HELCOM Information Service) – Cost-effective implementation of an international programme of actions to radically reduce pollution to the Baltic Sea and restore its good ecological status by 2021 will be the major theme of the Fourth Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, which will be held on 3 March 2009 in Helsinki, Finland.

Senior Government Officials, representatives of science and business communities and various organizations from all around the Baltic Sea will participate to discuss political, economic and scientific pre-requisites for timely and successfully achieving a healthy Baltic Sea. Keynote speakers at the opening plenary are expected to include Mr. Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for the Environment, Ms. Paula Lehtomäki, Minister of the Environment of Finland, Mr. Yuri Trutnev, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation as well as Ms. Åsa-Britt Karlsson, State Secretary, Ministry of the Environment of Sweden. 

The Stakeholder Conference will consist of three thematic sessions focusing on the new HELCOM biodiversity and eutrophication assessments which are setting a baseline for implementing the measures of the plan, economic perspective of the protection of the Baltic Sea, as well as issues of regional cooperation in strengthening the knowledge base for cost-efficient implementation of the plan. The sessions will be followed by a general roundtable discussion on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan with the participation of officials from the coastal countries, the European Commission, representatives of the scientific community, IFIs and NGO’s.

“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.

HELCOM has obligations to measure, monitor and assess what is happening in the Baltic marine environment and how pressures to the environment are evolving. HELCOM has made comprehensive thematic assessments covering inputs and their effects on the marine environment since the 1980s and these findings are the basis for identifying priorities for actions. Recently these obligations have been fulfilled by elaborating comprehensive thematic assessments, covering two of the four environmental priority areas of HELCOM’s work, namely eutrophication and biodiversity. A thematic assessment on hazardous substances should be developed during 2009-2010 and one on maritime activities by 2010. Furthermore, HELCOM Member States will produce a holistic assessment of the status of and pressures to the Baltic Sea marine environment for the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting which will take place in 2010 in Moscow.

“The success of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan will largely depend on how all the coastal countries and involved stakeholders, including IFIs, 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.”

The Fourth Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan will be conducted by Mr. Igor Maydanov, Chairman of the Helsinki Commission.  

Follow-up:

Programme of the Fourth Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP/4th/en_GB/Programme/, Media Advisory http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/Media_Advisory_4SC_BSAP/.

Media reminder:

Members of the news media wishing to cover the Conference should contact HELCOM Information Secretary Nikolay Vlasov at +358 (0) 207 412 635 or send an e-mail with their name, affiliation and contact information to nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi  no later than 2 March 2009 to arrange for credentials.

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