On 22/23 March, the XVII International Environmental Forum “Baltic Sea Days” took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Maria Tolppanen, member of the Finnish Parliament, and Jørn Dohrmann, member of the European Parliament, represented the BSPC at the forum and continued thus the tradition of vivid exchange of experience and information as well as of joint participation in conferences.
Maria Tolppanen held a speech on behalf of the BSPC and underlined the BSPC’s efforts to further on support the work of HELCOM as much as possible. This ambition was also adopted in the resolution of the 24th annual conference of the BSPC in Rostock last year. Under point 10 the parliamentarians from all around the Baltic Sea committed themselves to “strengthen and further develop HELCOM as the main coordinating body in the effort to protect the Baltic marine environment, and to strongly support the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), and to stress the importance of BSAP as the environmental pillar of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region”.
Ms Tolppanen stressed that the BSPC especially supports the new HELCOM approach on the second holistic assessment of the ecosystem health of the Baltic Sea – the so called HOLAS II. HOLAS II will provide updated information on the status of the marine environment and cumulative pressures and impacts from major human activities. For the first time, social and economic analysis will be truly incorporated into the HELCOM assessment by linking human activities to pressures and impacts on ecosystem components within one holistic framework. This new and very practical measure will promote the understanding of the ecosystem approach what is very welcomed by the BSPC.
Furthermore, Ms Tolppanen commented on the HELCOM Commission Meeting that was held 9 to 10 March. One of the most important steps or maybe even a milestone taken on that meeting was the adoption of the NECA Roadmap for the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This roadmap for designating a NOx emission control area (NECA) in the Baltic Sea in parallel with the North Sea is a major decision in terms of concrete nutrient pollution reduction potential. In the name of all BSPC members, she thanked HELCOM for this approach and noted that surely it will be highlighted in the next BSPC resolution.
Moreover, she explained that with the new established Working Group on Sustainable Tourism, the BSPC will tackle the challenges of fostering tourism in the Baltic Sea Region and at the same time conserve a good environmental state of the region. The overarching objective of the Working Group is to elaborate political positions and recommendations pertaining to sustainable tourism. For this purpose, the Working Group should establish and maintain contacts with relevant institutions, organizations and other actors in the Baltic Sea Region. Therefore, the BSPC appreciates every input from HELCOM or other actors of the Baltic Sea Region.