Press release
International conference to discuss implementation of HELCOM's action plan
Helsinki, 17 December (HELCOM Information Service) - The Helsinki Commission today announced that it will hold the 3rd Stakeholder Conference on the Baltic Sea Action Plan on 4 March 2008 in Helsinki, Finland. Delegates, representing governments, scientific and business communities of the Baltic Sea coastal countries, as well as the European Community, CBSS and other major regional organizations will discuss the implementation of the new environmental strategy to reduce pollution and reverse the degradation of the Baltic marine environment which was approved by the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting on 15 November 2007.
The financial aspects of the plan’s implementation and the cost-efficiency of measures will be one of the top issues. “Discussions will particularly focus on the sources of funding, involvement of the international financial institutions and the private sector in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and understanding their requirements for providing financing support, as well as how to prepare successful projects to ensure/increase the investments for marine environmental protection,” said Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “The overall objective is to get acceptance and commitments at local, national and regional levels as well as from the private sector to the implementation of the plan.”
The second major theme at the Conference will be a discussion with all relevant stakeholders on how broad-scale marine spatial planning can be used within HELCOM in balancing conservation interest and different uses in a multi-sectoral way. Delegates will attempt to find solutions to marine spatial planning scenarios by using existing HELCOM data which will be visualized on a large background map. Broad-scale marine spatial planning was one of the new concepts adopted within the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.
The outcome of the sessions of the Conference will serve as an input to the plan’s implementation. HELCOM considers this input very important and is committed to respond to any suggestion raised by major stakeholder groups in the region in order to ensure that the plan is relevant and can be effectively implemented in practice.
The programme of the 3rd Stakeholder Conference will consist of two thematic sessions, which will be followed by a general roundtable discussion on the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action with the participation of senior government officials from the coastal countries, the European Community, international financial institutions and representatives of NGO’s.
Note to Editors:
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, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and also the European Community.
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