05.03.2008

Helsinki, Finland

Statement by the Executive Secretary of HELCOM, Ms. Anne Christine Brusendorff,

at the annual HELCOM Meeting, 5-6 March 2008, Helsinki, Finland

It may not surprise you that in this statement I want to touch upon our Action Plan – both with a warm hindsight feeling – but also with a kind of shivering feeling when looking into the future.

The 15 of November really is worth celebrating; after hard preparations, and at times discouraging moments and stand-stills, we managed to gather-in a truly comprehensive and epoch-making Action Plan. With the words of one of the Krakow delegates: this was a definitive proof of HELCOM being not only the scientific body but also the policy-maker in the region.

I naturally want to thank you all for making this possible – not least my colleagues in the Secretariat, for whom it involved a substantial number of additional meetings on top of the ordinary ones.

With our joint efforts we managed to get into the lime-light, not only in the Baltic region but also in a broader context, and now HELCOM is being looked at as the role model, the mother, for others to follow. The most evident sign of this probably being the award won by the Action Plan – as an outstanding example of an innovative regional environmental programme. This puts us under an obligation – and we have to show that the political commitment from the 15 November last year can be stretched all the way to the implementation of the agreed actions.

For me this means that the Implementation Group, established to follow the important and challenging work on the Action Plan, gets to play an extremely responsible role. While I have no doubt that one of the strong points of our cooperation is the fabulous bond we have within the HELCOM family – I do have doubts as to whether this will be enough for us to ensure a successful implementation of the Action Plan. For this reason I think we will have to enlarge our family – and in this way demonstrate that the Action Plan is honestly considered to substantially contribute to and facilitate the implementation of also other legislative frameworks than the Helsinki Convention.

As for the role of the Implementation Group; – we can compare that to the ad hoc Task Force for the preparation of the Action Plan. Such a group shall work under the supervision of the Heads of Delegation with the decision-making power vested in the HoD’s. The Group shall use the work of the subsidiary bodies as its foundation, but it shall also seek and identify new ways, and a widening of the means, as well as the participation in order to facilitate, enhance and ensure the implementation of the Action Plan. In this process it is important to build upon a knowledge-based approach and by that the existing scientific information about the various human activities and their interconnection when it comes to impacts on the marine environment. But I also find it to be of similar importance that this group lifts its work even beyond the ordinary framework of HELCOM in order to get the attention and input of other actors in the field of marine environmental protection. This can be done, for instance, by arranging specific sessions on topics such as:

- monitoring and assessment and data availability for the evaluation of the status of implementation and effectiveness of the decided actions;

- evaluating the status of implementation of decided actions under the four segments;

- financing and making available funds for the implementation of the actions, matching information needs by the various International Financial Institutions and other available funding mechanisms, thus preparing for the Pledging Conference or contributing with inputs to specific projects;

- listing prioritised projects which - on a Baltic-wide scale - would be the most cost-efficient to implement;

- etc

With this, the Implementation Group would have the freedom to both view the topics from a more specialised and dedicated point of view and to view them from a more overarching and integrated point of view, thus also flexibly allowing participation of specific experts when considering specific topics.

Let me maybe try to give one example:

In Krakow we decided to increase phosphorous removal from wastewater treatment plants of a certain size and to introduce phosphorus removal in small and medium-sized plants.

This decision coincides:

- with the activities that the HELCOM countries, being also member states of the EU, have to undertake to fulfil requirements under the EU Urban Wastewater Directive;

- with the investments to be made, by the same HELCOM countries, under the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds;

- with the willingness of private-funding initiatives to help in implementation of most cost-effective investments in the Baltic region, either as a purchase of nutrient loads or as a contribution to a joint implementation; and

- with the availability of dedicated funds and grants for investments in the Leningrad Oblast and Kaliningrad regions.

A proper implementation, and by that a blend of the various funds and initiatives available, requires:

- a national prioritisation of the most cost-efficient projects;

- a like-wise prioritisation on the Baltic-wide scale; and

- an Implementation Group that can keep this under supervision, ensure contacts to the IFI’s and other initiatives, as well as monitor the status  and the effects of the implementation.

The starting point for this is the data and information compiled by HELCOM, in particular the information used in the periodic Pollution Load Compilations and the related annual indicator fact sheets – and for those being also EU Member States - any additional information that may be available under the Urban Wastewater Directive.

As this example shows, 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. And let me here stress that one of the criteria for successful implementation of the Action Plan will be the representation and involvement of sector representatives in the Implementation Group. But of course the crux in this is the political commitment of the countries in thriving towards a healthy Baltic Sea.

I do hope that this Commission meeting will decide on the Chair of the Implementation Group and the date for its first meeting – so that we can roll-up our sleeves and start the real work; something everybody is anxiously awaiting.

Note to Editors: 

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, more commonly as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea 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. 

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