HELCOM preparing to launch the implementation phase of the Baltic recovery plan

Helsinki, 3 March (HELCOM Information Service) – Government officials of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community will convene at the 29th annual Helsinki Commission Meeting on 5-6 March in Helsinki, Finland, to review the organisation’s progress in the protection of the Baltic marine environment from pollution and set new objectives and priorities for future work.

The upcoming implementation of the ambitious Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the good ecological status of the Baltic marine environment by 2021, which was adopted by HELCOM last year, will be the focus of the two-day Meeting. In particular, the Delegations of the HELCOM Member States are expected to appoint the Chairman of the international ad hoc Group that will steer the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, as well as nominate national representatives, and also invite representatives from major international financial institutions (IFIs) to participate in the Group’s work. The annual HELCOM Meeting will also decide on the dates of the first meeting of the Implementation Group. According to the preliminary information, the first meeting could be arranged already in April.

“The Implementation Group will give guidance and ensure the coordination of scientific and technical activities of HELCOM as well as link the implementation of the Action Plan to activities under other international frameworks,” says Prof. Mieczyslaw S. Ostojski, Chairman of the Helsinki Commission. “The Group will also consider financial issues, including the financing possibilities of the agreed measures, the cost efficiency and economic incentives.”

“The Implementation Group which we have recently established to follow the important and challenging work on the action plan gets to play an extremely responsible role,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “It shall seek and identify new ways and means as well as partnerships in order to facilitate, enhance and ensure the implementation of the plan. The role of HELCOM and the Implementation Group will be to provide support in terms of monitoring and data, to facilitate the access to this information and to provide the forum which will coordinate and involve all potential partners in the implementation process.”

The Meeting will consider the outcome of the 3rd Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, which takes place on 4 March in Helsinki. The financial aspects of the plan’s implementation and the cost-efficiency of measures will be one of the top themes of the Conference. Discussions will particularly focus on the sources of funding, involvement of the IFIs and the private sector in the implementation of the action plan and understanding their requirements for providing financing support, as well as how to prepare successful projects to ensure and increase the investments for marine environmental protection.

According to the Agenda, the annual Commission Meeting will also review the activities of the five HELCOM Subsidiary Groups, as well as working programmes, intersessional work and ongoing projects, including the implementation of the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP).

The continuing recovery of major pollution hot spots in the Baltic Sea coastal countries will also be one of the key issues. It is expected that the Meeting will delete the Hot Spot No 22 – “St. Petersburg Metal Plating Industry/Heavy metals in wastewater and sludge” from the list of the Baltic Sea’s most significant pollution source hot spots. The local industry has made major investments in wastewater treatment techniques resulting in significant reduction of pollution. Currently, a total of 80 hot spots and sub-hot spots remain on the list, following the deletion of 82 of the earlier identified 162 hot spots/sub-hot spots.

Representatives of the Baltic Sea countries are expected to approve two new HELCOM Recommendations. The first one deals with reduction of emissions from crematoria, setting emission limits for mercury and other harmful substances to the air. Crematoria’s are considered as a significant point source for mercury emissions in many of the Baltic Sea countries. The second Recommendation is on harmonization of methods of sampling and reporting the amount and type of marine litter on the beach within the Baltic Sea region as part of a global initiative to assess the impact of marine litter.

The annual Meeting of the Helsinki Commission will take place at the Marina Congress Center in Helsinki. It will be opened by Chairman Ostojski. 

Follow-up:

Press release on the 3rd Stakeholder Conference on the Baltic Sea Action Plan

http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/3rd_Stakeholder_Conference_1/ and Media Advisory: http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/Media_Advisory_HELCOM29/ 

Note to Editors: 

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, more usually known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," 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.