Statement
Helsinki, Finland
14.12.2006
Statement by Prof. Jan Szyszko, Minister of the Environment of Poland,
at the opening of the 20th Meeting of the Heads of Delegation to HELCOM,
14 December 2006, Helsinki
Your Excellencies, Mr. Chairman of HELCOM, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am happy to address our meeting one year in advance of the HELCOM Ministerial one where the Baltic Sea Action Plan will be adopted. As a community living in the Baltic Sea region we have made over recent years every effort to improve the state of the Baltic Sea marine environment. Our successes include elimination of DDT use, return of white-tailed eagle to its natural hatching areas, determination of Baltic Sea protected area, reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus discharges and pollution from the hot spots.
However, we have still to face many difficult challenges. One of them is to prepare the Baltic Sea Action Plan. Poland, when taking over the Presidency of HELCOM focused on preparation of this document and its adoption during the conference currently scheduled to be convened on 15 November 2007 in Krakow. Now, I would like to request the Heads of Delegations to inform their respective Ministers about my address.
The Baltic Sea Action Plan will be completely different from any other plan or programme previously undertaken by HELCOM. It will incorporate an innovative approach to the protection of marine environment.
The underlying principle is the ecosystem approach, which was set off in the 1992 Rio Declaration and reiterated at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. The highlight of this ambitious, but realistic plan is that it will be based on a clear set of Ecological Objectives defined to reflect a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea, e.g. clear water, no excessive algal blooms and natural distribution of plants and animals. The good ecological status definition will be set based on a holistic view and by creating a balance between the health of the sea the public wants and the human influences that they will accept.
With this ecosystem approach protection of the marine environment is no longer seen as an event-driven pollution reduction approach to be taken sector-by-sector. Instead, the starting point is a common understanding and definition of a sea with a good ecological balance, which is deciding the further needs for reductions of pollution loads as well as the level and extent of human activities.
The concept of the Baltic Sea Action Plan is directly associated with the European Marine Strategy on the protection of marine environment and planned EU Directive under which action plans should be prepared for all European seas to achieve healthy marine environment. The Baltic Sea Action Plan will be used (will serve) in the future as a model to be followed for elaboration of other regional action plans for the remaining European Seas.
Availing of this opportunity I wish to let you know how important is the initiative to prepare the Baltic Sea Action Plan. We have to make every effort to involve all concerned parties in the consultation process and activities in the preparation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan, including the representatives of broadly meant society, whose choices can help reduce the pollution.
Therefore, it is necessary to inform the public on the objectives to be met by the Baltic Sea Action Plan as well as on the benefits for present and future generations to be gained when implementing the Plan.
Only public support and broad understanding of the Baltic Sea Action Plan concept can contribute in the future to its proper implementation and sustainable development of the whole Baltic Sea region.
I would like to end by wishing you and myself the Baltic Sea Action Plan was implemented successfully. Moreover, I express my conviction that the Baltic Sea Action Plan as a new environmental strategy supported by all Baltic countries will contribute in the future to preserve extremely valuable natural resources of the Baltic Sea, assuming further economic development of the region.
Thank you.
Follow-up: Press release on the 20th Meeting of the Heads of Delegation to HELCOM http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/HODs20/
Note to Editors:
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, more usually known as 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," known as the Helsinki Convention.
In 2005, the Helsinki Commission resolved to create a Baltic Sea Action Plan, which would set out a new strategy to reduce pollution and reverse the marine environment degradation. The concept of this ambitious plan of actions, which has already been widely heralded as a pilot project for the European seas under the newly drafted EU Marine Strategy, will provide a unique opportunity to take wide-ranging and purposeful actions to achieve the ultimate target of having a healthy marine environment with balanced eco-systems for the benefit of present and future generations.
The consultation process on the development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan was officially launched at the kick-off Stakeholder Conference held on 7 March 2006 in Helsinki, Finland. After a series of meetings and a final Stakeholder Conference in March 2007, which will look into and review a first draft of a single Baltic Sea Action Plan, the finalised environmental strategy will be adopted at a Ministerial HELCOM meeting, which will take place on 15 November 2007 in Krakow, Poland.
The international ad hoc Task Force for the development of the Baltic Sea Action Plan was established at the annual HELCOM meeting in March 2006. This meeting also approved the first core elements of the action plan - a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea and a set of strategic goals and ecological objectives for achieving a commonly acceptable good status of the marine environment.
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