Anne Christine Brusendorff: Baltic Sea rescue on track
Just back from HELCOM’s ministerial meeting held in mid-May 2010 in Moscow, the organisation’s Executive Secretary Anne Christine Brusendorff is happy to report that the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) is proceeding according to schedule.
Ministers of all the HELCOM member countries met in Moscow, to present their national implementation plans for the BSAP.
“We have now received the member states’ national BSAP implementation plans. Three years ago in Krakow, it was decided that these national implementation plans were to be developed by 2010, and we can now see that the time frame was realistic. This is a major step forward to meet our goal, which is to restore the ecological status of the Baltic Sea by the year 2021,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.
“Together with international financial institutions (IFIs) and other stakeholders, it was decided to assess the plans by March 2011. We will then discuss how to speed up and facilitate the implementation of specific projects,” Ms Brusendorff continues.
Quick results
The Moscow meeting resulted in a declaration where, among other things, numerous important actions are listed. One example of the actions is the reduction of inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to the sea, to fight eutrophication.
“We see the advanced phosphorus removal from wastewaters as a cost-efficient way to improve the ecological status of the sea, but agriculture is naturally also a field of great importance.”
Some important actions have already been taken by individual countries. Ms Brusendorff emphasises wastewater treatment as a measure that gives quick results.
“A good example is the wastewater treatment plant in Szczecin, Poland, that opened recently. From this treatment plant, we are expecting to see improvements not only of Poland’s coastal waters, but also of the sea as a whole. Major results are also expected from the improved wastewater treatment plant that is to open soon in Warsaw.”
Fitting the pieces of financing together
The next step for HELCOM is to assess the national implementation plans, and then to meet the stakeholders during a high-level segment of the Helsinki Commission meeting in March 2011. Financing will be high on the agenda.
“We know that this is a matter of aligning different financing possibilities, stemming from national and regional funding. First, we need to find out how to employ the wide-range of available financial instruments, such as the EU Cohesion and Structural Funds, the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the IFIs. Then we need to combine longer term investments with shorter term investments for projects that give quicker results,” Ms Brusendorff explains.
Extensive cooperation between various counterparties is crucial in order to get the financial structure in place.
“I’m looking forward to doing these assessments together with the IFIs, including NIB, and other stakeholders like the John Nurminen Foundation, the Baltic Sea Action Group and the Baltic Sea 2020. It is a big job that lies ahead of us, but it is a job that has now been made possible as the countries have fulfilled their first obligations, namely, to present their national implementation plans,” concludes Ms Brusendorff.