CCB and MIO-ECDE join forces to promote marine litter monitoring in the Baltic Sea

CCB • December 9, 2016

Some 18 NGO representatives from 8 countries, namely Belarus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden, were brought together in a two-day workshop on marine litter monitoring. The workshop was organized from 2-3 November 2016 in Gdansk (Poland) by the Coalition Clean Baltic in collaboration with the Polish Ecological Club and it was led by MIO-ECSDE.

The participants were introduced to the theme of marine litter, its sources and impacts, as well as the main legislative frameworks relevant to the countries sharing the Baltic Sea and the key actions undertaken at European and Regional Sea Conventions to combat marine litter. The participants had the opportunity to get acquainted step-by-step with the methodology for monitoring marine macro-litter on beaches and gained hands on experience on how to perform beach litter surveys.

The participants surveyed two transects at the coastline of Gdansk and processed the respective data in order to obtain a snapshot of the marine litter density in the area and the potential main sources.

The workshop was also a direct contribution to the first ever Marine Litter Watch Month, that is to took place in more than 75 of Europe’s most beautiful beaches from 17 September to 16 October 2016. The Marine Litter Watch Month is an initiative of the European Environment Agency jointly with over 20 NGOs – one of which CCB and MIO-ECSDE – and research institutes. The Marine Litter Watch aims to fill the ‘data gaps’ that are hampering an effective implementation of essential measures to address the growing threat of marine litter in European Regional Seas.

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.