Moscow HELCOM Ministerial Meeting to launch full-scale efforts to rescue the Baltic

Helsinki, 11 May (HELCOM Information Service) – The Ministerial-level Meeting of  HELCOM, that will take place on 20 May in Moscow, will initiate full-scale efforts for the recovery of the Baltic marine environment suffering from excessive inputs of pollution from the coastal countries and activities at sea. The Ministers of the Environment of the HELCOM Member States will present their National Implementation Programmes to achieve the objectives of the strategic HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to radically reduce pollution to the marine environment and restore its good ecological status already by 2021.    

“The upcoming HELCOM Meeting of the Ministers of the Environment of the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU Environment Commissioner will be a landmark event that will catalyze national commitments and launch full-scale implementation of actions towards the restoration of the Baltic marine environment,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.

The overarching Baltic Sea Action Plan which was adopted by HELCOM in 2007 provides a framework for managing the Baltic marine environment using an integrated and holistic approach to address all major environmental problems affecting the sea. The most serious is eutrophication which leads to problems like increased algal blooms, murky waters, oxygen depletion and lifeless sea bottoms. The plan includes concrete and meaningful actions to curb eutrophication that is caused by excessive loads of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) originating in runoff from farmland and inadequately treated municipal sewage, prevent pollution involving hazardous substances, improve maritime safety and accident response capacity, and halt habitat destruction and the decline in biodiversity. The plan also contains provisional country-wise annual input reduction targets for both nitrogen and phosphorus.

“At the Moscow Meeting, the HELCOM countries will particularly review progress that they have already made in reducing pollution to the Baltic Sea and present their own programmes describing how they will implement further actions to curb eutrophication halt inputs of hazardous substances,” says Brusendorff. “These programmes should include concrete measures to reach the provisional country-wise pollution reduction targets set in the Baltic Sea Action Plan. With the National Implementation Programmes in place, the work to further reduce the pollution loads entering the sea will pick up pace considerably.”

Also, the Ministers are expected to agree on the follow-up actions and adopt a set of new and revised HELCOM Recommendations (regulations). They include measures to combat hazardous substances, ensure safe shipping and response to maritime oil pollution.

The upcoming HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Meeting will also offer a good opportunity to view the status report on the implementation of the actions within the fields of nature protection, maritime safety, and response to accidents at sea. Maritime-related actions focus on the further enforcement of shipping regulations, improving safety of navigation, and reducing pollution from ships. The HELCOM countries have committed themselves to urgently conduct hydrographic re-surveys of all marine areas important for the safety of navigation; to designate the Baltic Sea as a nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission control area within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meaning that ships’ emissions would be limited by stricter international regulations; and to enhance port reception facilities for sewage in major passenger ports, following up on the joint proposal by the HELCOM countries to the IMO that discharges of untreated sewage from passenger ships operating in the Baltic Sea should be banned.

Additionally, a major holistic assessment of the status of the Baltic marine environment will be released at the Ministerial Meeting. This assessment has been prepared to support the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. All National Implementation Programmes will be measured against this assessment.

The latest available data indicates an overall reduction in nutrient pollution loads entering the Baltic Sea as a whole. Some countries have made significant progress towards their provisional nutrient pollution reduction targets. But the overall situation is still unacceptable. Excessive loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from land-based sources are still feeding over the excessive growth of algae and the spread of lifeless sea bottoms in most of the Baltic Sea’s sub-basins. Countries need to react urgently and apply the pollution reduction measures specified in the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. Failure to act now would undermine the prospects for the future recovery of the sea, and endanger a vital resource for the future economic prosperity of the whole region.

The Meeting will produce a declaration on the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. It is expected that the coastal countries will agree on specific actions to enhance the implementation of the eutrophication, hazardous substances, biodiversity and nature conservation, maritime activities, and financing segments of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.

At the Meeting, Russia will transfer its two-year HELCOM chairmanship to Sweden. The chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission rotates between its Members every two years in alphabetical order in English.

Media advisory:

Moscow HELCOM Ministerial Meeting

http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/Media_Advisory_Moscow_ministerial/

Additional information:

Please visit HELCOM’s web site at http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP/MinisterialMeeting2010/en_GB/front/ or http://www.helcom2010.ru/.

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)46 850 9196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi