by HELCOM countries following the high-level seminar in Stockholm, 25 August 2010

 

Coordinated and strong action – a key to a healthy Baltic Sea

We, the Ministers of Environment of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden, with the support of our Russian partners in HELCOM, are now strengthening our efforts to save the Baltic Sea. To this end, as part of the Swedish Chairmanship of HELCOM, the body for intergovernmental marine cooperation around the Baltic Sea, ministers and high-level officials from the countries around the Baltic recently gathered in Stockholm at a seminar on marine policy, to start up the Swedish HELCOM Chairmanship.

During the seminar, an assessment was presented on the ecosystem health of the entire Baltic Sea, including the costs associated with environmental degradation. The assessment sends us – the governments around the Baltic Sea – a stark message: today no part of the Baltic Sea has an acceptable environmental status. Eutrophication is the major threat, resulting in algae blooms and dead sea bottoms. Living organisms are affected by hazardous substances in all parts of the sea. Of the 24 marine ecosystems in the Baltic Sea, which are essential to food production, water purification and energy production, only ten are operating properly and seven are under severe threat.

Considerable economic, environmental and societal values are now at stake. We, representing countries around the Baltic Sea, need to intensify our efforts and improve internal and external coordination in order to act even more effectively.  

In Krakow in 2007 we agreed on a plan of action, the Baltic Sea Action Plan, which is unique in its kind in that the emission reduction targets are set on the basis of what is needed to achieve a healthy sea, and are not subject to political negotiation. We have preliminarily agreed that nutrient leakage has to be reduced by 40% for phosphorus and 18% for nitrogen.

At present, each country has special targets to meet and is obliged to present a plan on how to get there. In Moscow in May, a majority of the countries presented their national plans. In Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, the building of new wastewater treatment plants is already reducing the load considerably. Investments to decrease phosphorus loads are planned or under way, or already completed, as in St Petersburg. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and other countries are taking action to substantially reduce the leakage from agriculture, as this sector is responsible for about half of the nutrient load. Air emissions of nitrogen from shipping are increasing, and reducing these emissions should be a priority for all countries. We have agreed to phase out phosphates in detergents by 2015 and we will continue with dishwasher agents, a cost-effective measure giving direct results. Our countries are also collaborating bilaterally to speed up investments and make use of each other’s experiences.

We all stand by our commitments and are taking action to reach these commonly agreed targets for a healthy Baltic Sea by 2021. The regional work within HELCOM has proven to be a successful means of agreeing on what needs to be done. Tying in with the considerable achievements of preceding HELCOM chairmanships, we are now focusing on implementing decisions that have already been taken.

To this end we will now start by assessing our achievements in relation to the commitments made within the HELCOM framework. We will coordinate national, international and EU funding better with the BSAP and improve cross-sector dialogue. The Swedish Chairmanship will invite the HELCOM environment ministers to annual meetings.

In order to strengthen the role of HELCOM in the implementation of EU policies that are relevant to the Baltic Sea region, the countries that are also EU Member States will build on strong partnerships with other regional commissions and make all efforts needed to safeguard the proper integration of marine protection aspects into the Common Fisheries and Agricultural Policies, aiming at sustainable management of marine resources.

We believe that this will speed up the preparation of activities aimed at saving the Baltic Sea. As agreed by responsible ministers in Moscow in May this year, we will further develop the role of HELCOM as the main driving force in implementing the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities in the Baltic Sea marine area. We want HELCOM to play a proactive role both in the development of new cost-efficient and cross-sector solutions and in the implementation process of other regional policy instruments. We want to see HELCOM take the lead in exploring how to make the Baltic Sea a model of good management of human land and sea-based activities.

The Baltic presents a challenging showcase of environmental management of a sea. In the past we have built strong cooperation between the countries in the region. The involvement of NGOs and stakeholders has proven to be an indispensable component of our work.

We will show that by serious commitments and continued dedicated HELCOM action it is possible to turn a seriously polluted sea into a global example of successful marine restoration under the umbrella of regional cooperation.