Baltic-wide actions needed to reach SDG targets

CCB • February 28, 2017

Today, high-level representatives of the HELCOM Contracting Parties will meet in Helsinki to discuss regional Baltic Sea contribution to conservation and sustainable use of the seas and marine resources by 2030. Actions related to eutrophication, marine litter and climate change will be given special focus in the discussion.

On behalf of environmentally concerned citizens of the Baltic Sea catchment, the NGO network Coalition Clean Baltic asks the Ministers and Baltic region governments to keep their focus and address the urgent needs of the Baltic Sea in order to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. Global goals are needed but it must start with regional sea actions to save the Baltic Sea from further deterioration. To set aside the already agreed goals is not acceptable and doing so may risk losing public support.

– The public expects that the big words and set goals matter and wants to see results not excuses , says Mikhail Durkin, CCB Executive secretary.

The 2018 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting will demonstrate whether the countries are serious that “protection and enhancement of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area are tasks that cannot effectively be accomplished by national efforts alone” as recognised by 1992 Helsinki Convention.

– We have only a few years left before the original Baltic Sea Action Plan deadline in 2021, HELCOM Contracting Parties should strongly focus and not shifting the deadline towards 2030, relying on SDG process to solve all the Baltic problems.  Mikhail Durkin CCB Executive secretary

The CCB considers the below points crucial to comment.

Eutrophication:

  • it is vital that the upcoming EU CAP reform process better address nutrient efficiency and nutrient recycling in agricultural systems
  • it is not acceptable that one Contracting Party is still blocking joint process of national commitments to reduce nutrient inputs that is set on best available national data and scientific knowledge!

Hazardous substances:

  • leading countries in the BSR pursuing domestic bans of microbeads use in cosmetics should first make the regional efforts and then have the courage and propose concerted global action
  • pharmaceutical residues problem should be addressed in a more comprehensive way, focusing on both source reduction through public awareness and efficient safe disposal systems, as well as end-of-pipe measures for sewage and sludge by its tertiary treatment

Biodiversity and nature conservation:

  • on one hand we are witnessing designation of new offshore MPAs to protect critically endangered harbour porpoise and on the other – plans for large infrastructure projects threatening the existence of already established MPAs, as e.g. routing of Nord Stream II across Kurgalskiy Peninsula and Navigation Canal across Vistula Spit.

Maritime activities

  • Baltic ports should address other, earlier considered negligent sources of pollution, e.g. through development and implementation of BAT for ports facilities handling fertilisers to avoid losses of nutrients during loading operations

See more detailed information in CCB’s full statement.

COP30 brings ocean and water to the center of climate policy

By CCB • December 5, 2025
In Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference COP30 immediately set the bar high. In his opening speech, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stressed that climate change is no longer a "threat to the future", but a tragedy that the world is already experiencing here and now, and called on countries to accelerate actions rather than limit themselves to promises. However, as is often the case in COP meetings, the political reality turned out to be more complicated than ambitions. Negotiations were difficult: the countries could not agree on a clear and binding plan to phase out fossil fuels. It is important to note that the Global Action Plan has provided a platform for discussing the development of a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. At the same time, COP30 has brought tangible progress in other areas: the countries agreed to triple the amount of adaptation funding for developing countries by 2035, strengthened the forest and ocean agenda, and expanded the range of practical initiatives under the Action Agenda . COP30 consolidated the trend: from "water at the center of the climate crisis" to a holistic ocean agenda closely related to energy, food, biodiversity and sustainable coastal development. From the COP29 Water Declaration to the COP30 Enhanced Ocean Water Program At COP29 in Baku, the Declaration on Water for Climate Action was adopted , with the aim to applying comprehensive approaches to combating the causes and consequences of climate change for water basins, emphasizing also the need to integrate water-related mitigation and adaptation measures into national climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). COP30 did not reverse this logic, but expanded it towards the ocean and coasts. Both processes "aquatic" and "oceanic" are moving in the same direction: integration of water, coasts and ocean into the climate plans of countries; development of nature-based solutions; strengthening transboundary management of water and marine systems; recognizing adaptation as an equal part of climate policy, rather than an "adjunct" to emissions reduction. Task Force on Oceans and the Blue NDC Challenge The international Task Force on Oceans , led by Brazil and France, was officially presented at the high-level ministerial meeting "From Ambition to Implementation: Delivering on Ocean Commitments" on 18 November, integrating oceans into a global mechanism to accelerate the incorporation of marine solutions into national climate plans. The Blue Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Challenge encourages countries to set ocean protection targets when updating their NDCs. The goal is to transition the Blue NDC Challenge into an Implementation Task Force. Members of the Blue NDC Challenge, currently 17 countries, can adopt a broad set of actions aimed at the protection and sustainable use of the oceans.These measures include the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, supported by tools such as marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-aligned marine protected areas. Countries are also encouraged to support sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture, ensuring ocean health and long-term food security. B razil has set a clear example: its updated NDC includes a separate chapter on the ocean and coastal zones. For the first time, the national climate plan (Plano Clima) until 2035 includes a thematic adaptation plan for these areas. Priorities include the completion of national Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) by 2030 and major programs for the conservation and restoration of mangroves and coral reefs (ProManguezal, ProCoral).

Pathway to Tox-Free Living: Policy and Action

By CCB • November 24, 2025
Leading scientists, consumer advocates and policymakers gathered on November, 18th in Brussels for the conference "From Evidence to Policy: Toward a Tox free Living Environment" . They warned that exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in homes and consumer products represents a silent but severe public health and economic crisis. New findings presented to over 65 participants by the EU Baltic Sea Interreg project NonHazCity3 , LIFE ChemBee and the ToxFree LIFE for All projects as well as revealed widespread contamination of European households by complex chemical mixtures of hormone system disrupting substances (so called endocrine disrupters – EDCs) that contribute to chronic disease and impose enormous health costs. According to the key note speaker Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska, the home environment is a significant source of exposure to EDCs through indoor air, dust and daily contact with common products. Current research links such exposure to a shocking amount of lifestyle diseases including 22 cancer outcomes, 18 metabolic disorder outcomes and 17 cardiovascular disease outcomes. Scientists also stressed that the crisis spans generations. EDCs trigger epigenetic changes that not only affect today’s population but also future children and even grandchildren. Other effects include reproduction disorders. Over the last decade, 150 million babies were born preterm, and evidence shows that reducing the use of plastics by half could cut the risk of preterm birth by half as well.