Abstract
HELCOM is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to protecting the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. In 2007, the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) was adopted with the aim to radically reduce pollution to the Baltic Sea and reverse its degradation by 2021. The holistic plan embodies an ecosystem-based approach to the management of human activities and contains concrete actions to solve the major problems affecting the Baltic Sea, including a concept of maximum allowable input of nutrients that would allow reaching a good environmental status of the Baltic Sea as concerns eutrophication. The plan specifies milestones and compliance dates as well as a system of measurable parameters that make it possible to evaluate the efficiency of adopted measures, and progress towards reaching the desired state of the Baltic Sea. The environmental objectives and proposed cost-effective measures were defined using the best available scientific knowledge at the time, but because the action plan embraces the concept of adaptive management these will be periodically reviewed and revised using a harmonized approach and the most updated information available.
The author works as Assisting Professional Secretary at the HELCOM Secretariat. Some of the views presented in this chapter are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those of the Helsinki Commission.
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Notes
- 1.
The contracting parties of the 1974 Helsinki Convention were Denmark, Finland, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Polish Peoples Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Sweden. In 1992, after the fall of communism in the region, the Helsinki Convention was revised and signed by Denmark, Estonia, European Economic Community (now European Union), Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russian Federation and Sweden.
- 2.
The 1992 Helsinki Convention included, amongst other things, the expansion of the ‘Convention Area’ to cover also inland waters within the catchment area of the Baltic Sea, rather than only the marine areas of the Baltic Sea. In addition, the revised Convention included new environmental principles such as the precautionary principle, polluter pays principle and the application of Best Environmental Practices (BEP) and Best Available Technology (BAT). The revised Conventions also took on board issues of biodiversity and nature conservation, as well as the sustainable use of the natural resources of the Baltic Sea area.
- 3.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became contracting parties to the Helsinki Convention (see also supra note 1).
- 4.
The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental cooperation between the countries bordering the sea – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden; as well as, the European Community.
- 5.
HELCOM Recommendations can be characterized as soft law instruments in that they are not legally binding as such. However, the fact that the Recommendations are adopted unanimously, and that countries are required to report on their national implementation, diminishes concerns about the lacking legal nature. Furthermore, the Recommendations support the implementation of the Helsinki Convention, which in turn is a legally binding instrument.
- 6.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) bioconcentrate in organisms directly from the water via body surfaces, bioaccumulate from food, and biomagnify along the trophic chain from bacteria to predators.
- 7.
For more information about the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), see: http://europa.eu/pol/agr/index_en.htm. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 8.
For more information about the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), see http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/index_en.htm. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
The EQR approach has been used in the HELCOM integrated thematic assessments on biodiversity and eutrophication (HELCOM 2009a, b). The HELCOM integrated thematic assessment on hazardous substance (HELCOM 2010a), however, is based on a different approach. For most persistent organic pollutants the reference concentration is zero, or close to zero, and therefore it makes sense to instead of the EQR, use a threshold value as the target (the threshold level being the level above which the substance is known to cause adverse effects). By comparing the measured value (status) with the threshold value we get a Contamination Ratio (CR). If status is above the threshold, then CR is above one and we move from an acceptable status to an unacceptable status.
- 12.
The core set of eutrophication indicators can be viewed on the HELCOM website http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP_assessment/en_GB/main/. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 13.
In the BSAP, the HELCOM contracting parties noted that the calculated figures were based on the best available scientific information, and thus stressed the provisional character of the data and that all the figures related to targets and maximum allowable nutrient inputs should be periodically reviewed and revised using a harmonized approach using updated information.
- 14.
Information about the status of implementation of the BSAP by the HELCOM countries can be viewed on the HELCOM website: http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP/Implementation/en_GB/Implementation/. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 15.
For more information on the EU Cohesion Fund, see: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/procf/cf_en.htm. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 16.
For more information about the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership fund, see: http://www.ndep.org/home.asp?type=nh&pageid=6#support. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 17.
For more information, see: http://www.nefco.org/files/48521_BSAPfactsheet.pdf. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 18.
Examples are the management of shipping activities under the International Maritime Organization, the management of fisheries and agriculture under the EU framework and the addressing of transboundary air pollution under the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
- 19.
For more information, see: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/north_dim/index_en.htm. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 20.
For more information, see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enlarg/russianis_en.htm. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 21.
For more information, see: Nordic Council of Ministers’ Nordic Environment Action Plan 2009–2012. http://www.norden.org/en/publications/publications/2008-733. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 22.
For more information about the Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, see: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/subpage_en.html. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 23.
Article 5§2 of the MSFD states that: Member States sharing a marine region or subregion shall cooperate to ensure that, within each marine region or subregion, the measures required to achieve the objectives of this Directive […] are coherent and coordinated across the marine region or subregion concerned.
- 24.
Article 6§1 of the MSFD states that: In order to achieve the coordination referred to in Article 5§2, Member States shall, where practical and appropriate, use existing regional institutional cooperation structures, including those under Regional Sea Conventions, covering that marine region or subregion.
- 25.
Especially Article 5 of the WFD on the determination of the characteristics of the river basin district, review of the environmental impact of human activity and economic analysis of water use, as well as, Article 8 of the WFD on the establishment of programmes for the monitoring of water status.
- 26.
Specifically Articles 5§2(a) concerning (1) the preparation of an initial assessment, (2) a determination of good environmental status for the waters concerned, (3) establishment of a series of environmental targets and associated indicators and (4) establishment and implementation of a monitoring programme for ongoing assessment and regular updating of targets and Article 8 on the specifics of the initial assessment of national marine waters.
- 27.
The UNEP Regional Seas Programme was launched in 1974 in the wake of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm (UN 1972). For more information, see http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/about/default.asp. Accessed 08.01.2010.
- 28.
The Manual for Marine Monitoring in the COMBINE Programme of HELCOM is available on the HELCOM website at: http://www.helcom.fi/groups/monas/CombineManual/en_GB/main/. Accessed 24.02.2011.
- 29.
It is not the aim of this chapter to go into details about the effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea and therefore the reader is encouraged to explore the other relevant chapters of this book for more specific information.
- 30.
According to Belkin (2009) compared to other large marine ecosystems around the world, the Baltic Sea has shown the highest rate of increase in water temperature during the past half a century.
- 31.
The preamble of the BSAP states: FULLY AWARE that climate change will have a significant impact on the Baltic Sea ecosystem requiring even more stringent actions in the future and of the efforts made by the Conference of the Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- 32.
Article 3§2 of the 1992 Helsinki Convention.
- 33.
For an in depth discussion about the application of the precautionary principle in the work of HELCOM, see Pyhälä et al. (2007).
Abbreviations
- BSAP:
-
HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan
- EC:
-
European Community
- EQR:
-
Ecological Quality Ratio
- EU:
-
European Union
- HELCOM:
-
Helsinki Commission
- IMO:
-
International Maritime Organization
- MSFD:
-
Marine Strategy Framework Directive
- NECD:
-
EU National Emission Ceiling Directive
- NEFCO:
-
Nordic Environmental Finance Corporation
- NIB:
-
Nordic Investment Bank
- OSPAR:
-
Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic
- WFD:
-
EU Water Framework Directive
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Pyhälä, M. (2012). HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan: An Ecosystem Approach to the Management of Human Activities. In: Brander, K., MacKenzie, B., Omstedt, A. (eds) Climate Impacts on the Baltic Sea: From Science to Policy. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25728-5_2
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