- Front page
- About HELCOM
- Vacancies
- Contact us
- The Helsinki Convention
- Ministerial Declarations
- Ministerial Meeting 2013
- Recommendations
- Baltic Sea Action Plan
- Groups
- Projects
- Publications
- Press office
- Meetings and Documents
- Manuals and guidelines
- Assessments and indicators
- Shipping
- The marine environment
- Data and maps
-
Climate Change Conference Joined Scientists and Policy-Makers
The winters in the Baltic Sea have not cooled down as much as before during recent decades, causing the minimum temperature of water to rise that further deteriorates the oxygen conditions in the sea bottom. On a more global scope, this year alone has witnessed a record loss of sea ice, greenhouse gas concentrations above the Arctic at their highest point for possibly 800,000 years, and crop-wrecking droughts in the US mid-west, causing sky-rocketing food prices.
In the Baltic region, action continues to address the alarming signs and things are speeding up for the publishing of the second BALTEX Assessment of Climate Change for the Baltic Sea Basin (BACC II), due to release in late 2013. About 110 participants gathered last month at the BACC II Conference in Tallinn, Estonia. The conference provided the scientific and stakeholder communities with summaries of the draft chapters of the Assessment, stirring lively discussions and establishing a fruitful space for exchange.
“The conference provided an excellent opportunity for the scientific community to link up with managers and policy makers giving much needed insight to the successful protection of the Baltic Sea, including the review of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan”, says Maria Laamanen, HELCOM Professional Secretary, who participated as a presenter and panellist in the Conference.
The panel discussion of the second day of the Conference had as participants representatives from a Danish municipality, Estonian Ministry of Environment, Council of the Baltic Sea States, BACC Science Steering Committee, the University of Szczecin, Poland, and HELCOM. The discussions demonstrated that there is still room for improving the interface between the science on the one hand, and decision makers, other stakeholders and the public on the other hand.
The Baltic region has in recent decades warmed up faster than the global average and dedicated work continues to prevent this from happening. HELCOM will publish a thematic assessment on the climate change and its effects on the Baltic Sea based on the results of the BACC II report, for providing the most relevant up-to-date information to the Baltic decision-makers.
At the last HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Moscow in 2010, participants reiterated their awareness on climate change having a significant impact on the Baltic Sea ecosystem, and agreed on the need for supplementary and possibly stricter actions. The next Ministerial Meeting in October 2013 provides a good opportunity to start specifying such actions.
