10.02.2010

Helsinki

Speech by Mr. Igor Maydanov, Chairman of HELCOM

at the Baltic Sea Action Summit Afternoon Plenary Session

10 February 2010, Finlandia Hall, Helsinki

Your Majesty,

Your Excellencies, HELCOM Heads of State and Government,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As chairman of HELCOM, I want to express my deep gratitude to President Tarja Halonen, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and the Baltic Sea Action Group for hosting this Summit.

It is my honor and privilege to address you at this event which has immense importance for the future of our entire region. The convening of this Summit is a vindication of the commitment by the governments and the business community to set our Baltic Sea region on the path of restoration and prosperity. It aims to obtain practical and implementable actions.

The Baltic Sea area today is one of the most dynamic, fastest developing regions of the world. We are witnessing intensified integration processes and rapid economic growth.

Development must, however, take into account environmental responsibilities. Economic activities in the region are putting an increasing pressure of heavy pollution and overexploitation on the fragile Baltic Sea ecosystem. It is crucial to ensure that progress is achieved without sacrificing our marine environment. The Baltic Sea, which can be called the motorway for growth and prosperity of the region, has enormous importance to all of us. The long term economic and social well-being of 85 million people living in the Baltic Sea Region highly depends on the state of the marine environment.

For more than three and a half decades, the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, made up of nine coastal countries and the EU, has been acting as the main environmental policy-maker for the Baltic Sea area by developing specific measures to protect and conserve its unique marine environment. HELCOM has produced many environmental gains in the course of the past years, thus validating the belief that the deterioration of one of the most polluted seas in the world can be arrested and the state of the marine environment improved.

But despite the encouraging results there still remains a lot to be done. The recovery of the troubled sea today requires a lot more concerted efforts than previously as well as firm commitments and support displayed at the highest political level. The environmental state of the Baltic Sea is rapidly deteriorating and requires urgent and comprehensive actions in order to prevent an irreversible environmental catastrophe. Failure to react right now will undermine both the prospects for the future recovery of the sea, and a vital resource for the future economic prosperity of the whole region.

Clearly realizing this, the HELCOM countries and the EU came together in a spirit of unprecedented co-operation to devise a strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan that sets forth a commitment to radically reduce pollution to the sea and restore its good ecological status by 2021 through specific actions that the coastal countries will jointly undertake.

This overarching action plan based on the innovative eco-system approach, which was adopted at the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in 2007, is designed to solve all major problems affecting the Baltic Sea. The results that we get from modeling are encouraging, and show that it really is possible to restore the Baltic Sea and achieve good ecological status. We will not perhaps reach the pristine conditions of 19th century but quite a pleasant situation as a result of more effective treatment of municipal waste waters, use of phosphorus-free detergents, best practices in agriculture and reduced emissions and discharges from shipping. But we can also see that if we continue business as usual the future is not looking good for the Baltic Sea. The algae blooms will be twice as intensive as today, turning the sea into a lifeless toxic cocktail, and the dead seabed area which already equals the territory of Denmark will spread widely across the Baltic Sea.

The implementation phase of the Baltic Sea Action Plan was launched in 2008 coinciding with the Russian chairmanship of HELCOM. Under the Russian HELCOM Chairmanship ensuring the successful implementation of the internationally agreed set of actions to re-create a healthy Baltic marine environment was made the topmost priority.

Currently, HELCOM is getting ready for the Ministerial Meeting in Moscow (to be held on 20 May) which has an immense significance and can be considered as another milestone in our joint efforts to rescue the Baltic Sea. At this Meeting, Ministers will review progress that the countries have already made in reducing their pollution to the Baltic Sea, and present their National Implementation Programmes to achieve the objectives of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. The HELCOM countries will particularly present their programmes on how they are to implement actions to curb eutrophication, which is caused by excessive inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen coming from agricultural runoff and inadequately treated municipal sewage, and halt the inputs of hazardous substances. These programmes should include concrete measures to reach the provisional country-wise pollution reduction targets as set in the Baltic Sea Action Plan. With the National Implementation Programmes in place, the work to further decrease pollution loads to the sea will pick up pace considerably.

The preparation of these programmes has not been that easy. Some countries have already drafted detailed implementation programmes, others are only starting. So we still have to tackle quite a number of issues to have them ready by the Ministerial Meeting in Moscow.

In order to be successful in creating meaningful National Implementation Programmes to restore the sea, HELCOM needs full support and commitment from the political leadership in the coastal countries, business communities and various stakeholder groups. This is crucial. Only together, we can do a lot to keep the Baltic Sea firmly on the agenda until this beautiful place is healthy and protected for all time.

I have every reason to believe that the outcome of the Baltic Sea Action Summit, commitments made here today will be turned into a vivid reality and will be welcomed by the public opinion in all the countries around the Baltic Sea.

Thank you for your attention

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to 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)46 8509196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi