Baltic youth movements to Danish Ministers: "Our future is at stake Stop the Lynetteholm project and consult all Baltic Sea countries!"

CCB • October 26, 2023

26 October 2023, Uppsala / Copenhagen / Stralsund - Today, environmental and youth NGOs from 11 countries of the Baltic Sea Region representing over 1,500,000 citizens sent a letter [1] to the Danish Minister of Transport, Thomas Danielsen, and the Danish Minister of Environment, Magnus Heunicke, expres sing their deep concern about the Lynetteholm project [2], an artificial island in the Copenhagen harbour that may affect the biodiversity and ecological state of the entire Baltic Sea.


According to Stiig Markager, a Danish Professor of marine ecology and biochemistry at Aarhus University, the artificial island may block the flow of vital oxygen rich salt water through the Danish Øresund to the Baltic Sea a blockage that according to hi m can have significant, irreversible, negative environmental consequences for the Baltic Sea and all the countries around it [3].


Therefore, young people living in the Baltic Sea Region call on Danish Ministers to promptly engage an independent multinational marine expert body that will have a clear overview of the cumulative environmental effects of all projects in the Baltic Sea marine areas and the responsibility for the status of Øresund and the Baltic Sea.


"The Danish authorities are ignoring not only us, young people and concerned citizens, but also scientists and International and European laws  [4]. It is our future, the future of our children and that of the marine environment of the entire Baltic Sea that is at stake. Therefore, we urge the
Danish Parliament to engage an independent multinational marine council to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of Lynetteholm as well as of future projects in the Baltic Sea", commented Maren Høj Muff from the Green Youth Movement in Denmark, as one of the representatives of the environmental and youth NGOs behind the letter.


Until then, they request the Danish ministers to immediately put the Lynetteholm project on hold and to consult all countries that may be environmentally and financially affected by this project because as they state “a good cooperation between the Baltic Sea countries is an absolute necessity not only to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, but also to see us move towards a better future”.


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For further information, please contact:
Mikhail Durkin, CCB Executive Secretary:
mikhail.durkin@ccb.se 
(+46) 739 770 793


Maren Høj Muff, The Green Youth Movement in Denmark: mhmuff@gmail.com
(+45) 4086 2101


Moritz Röhlke, NAJU Rostock: rostock@naju-mv.de


Daniela Herrmann, Scientific Associate Marine Conservation, Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU): Daniela.Herrmann@nabu.de
+ 49 (0)162 2050373


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NOTES for the editors:


[1] The full letter is available here.


[2] In June 2021, A majority in the Danish Parliament approved the Lynetteholm project, allowing the construction of an artificial island of 2.8 km2 that will provide a new residential area for 35,000 inhabitants and 35,000 workplaces in the outlet of Copenhagen harbour. The project is due to be completed in 50 years’ time (2070). More info: https://www.ccb.se/-stoplynetteholm-campaign


[3] The Baltic Sea is brackish water and only receives oxygen rich salt water from the Atlantic Ocean through the three Danish seas Øresund, Great Belt and Little Belt. According to Stiig Markager, Professor of marine ecology and biochemistry at Aarhus University, there is a high degree of certainty that even a minor reduction in the salinity of the Baltic Sea will have significant negative consequences for biodiversity and the ecological state of the Baltic Sea. Read his memo /analysis sent directly to Danish politicians (April 2023).


[4] Under the UN Espoo Convention and the EU's SEA/EIA Directives, the authorities of a country are obliged to consult all countries that may be environmentally affected by a construction project unless "significant transboundary impact can be excluded with certainty". The Lynetteholm project was approved despite Swedish criticism and without consultation of all the Baltic Sea countries despite the fact that all Baltic Sea countries may be affected.


So far, only Sweden has been consulted under the Espoo Convention. However, the Lynetteholm project was adopted in the Danish Parliament in June 2021 despite the fact that the Swedish Minister of Environment and Climate a month before had sent a letter directly to the Danish Minister of Environment in which he emphasizes the importance of the Danish Parliament not taking any decisions regarding Lynetteholm before the environmental impacts have been properly investigated and before the Espoo consultations between Denmark and Sweden have been finalised. His letter was kept secret and not forwarded to the members of the Danish Parliament before voting about the Lynetteholm project (read the full letter in English here: Microsoft Word - Per Bolund 2021 letter final.docx (cdn-website.com) and the original here: Aktindsigtsoversigt 4 - Maj-2021-Jan 2022.pdf (cdn-website.com). In addition, a letter sent to the Danish authorities in May 2023 on behalf of six Swedish authorities - where they repeat their concern for the Baltic Sea and ask about the solution regarding the blocking of saline water to the Baltic Sea - has so far been ignored (read the full letter in English here Microsoft Word - Naturvaardsverket letter May 2023 final.docx (cdn-website.com) and the original here: Yttrande remissvar (cdn-website.com)

 

In memoriam of Petro Hrytsyshyn

By CCB • August 20, 2026
It is with great sadness that the Coalition Clean Baltic shares the news of the passing of Petro Hrytsyshyn, a long-standing colleague, environmentalist and true friend of the CCB family. The hospitality and warmth with which he embraced each and every one of us in Lviv will always be an example of genuine and close relation and lasting, professional friendship. For many years, Petro was Director of the Western Centre of the Ukrainian Branch of the International Centre for Scientific Culture – World Laboratory, one of CCB’s oldest member organisations in Ukraine. But it is the role he played in our family of environmental NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region that we will remember him for. Petro was one of the people who helped build, connect and sustain the international environmental community of which CCB is a part. For decades, he worked across borders and disciplines, bringing together scientific knowledge, environmental organisations, local communities and international partners around a shared belief that environmental challenges can be met through cooperation, practical solutions and persistence. Within CCB, Petro was a familiar and valued presence at conferences, seminars and joint activities over many years, representing Ukraine and the Western Centre while also contributing his own knowledge and experience to the wider Baltic Sea community. He hosted numerous CCB activities in Lviv and shared his expertise on the issues closest to him: water protection, sustainable sanitation, ecological safety and sustainable agriculture. He also represented the Western Centre in international environmental processes, contributing to discussions on environmental protection, water management and sustainable development. What made Petro's contribution especially important was that he understood environmental protection not only as a matter of policy or science, but as something that had to work in practice, on the ground. His work on ecological sanitation and wastewater management, for example, sought practical ways of reducing pollution and protecting water resources in rural areas of Ukraine. He continued this work into recent years. In 2023, Petro was among the experts contributing to CCB's analysis of the Greatest Water Management Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region, bringing the Ukrainian perspective into a broader regional assessment. More recently, he contributed to the Green Recovery Plan for the Ukrainian part of the Vistula River Basin, including the Western Bug and Syan sub-basins – work that reflected the qualities of his whole career: international cooperation, practical environmental knowledge and a commitment to the future of Ukraine's rivers and communities. For those of us who worked with him, however, his legacy is not only projects, publications and meetings. In a network such as CCB, people are the foundation of cooperation, and Petro was one of those people who kept the connections alive through changing political circumstances, new environmental challenges and difficult times that Ukraine faces as a result of Russia’s unprecedented war of aggression. He represented a generation of environmental professionals and civil society activists who understood that lasting environmental progress depends on solidarity, openness and the willingness to work together across borders. His long commitment to cooperation between Ukrainian and European environmental organisations was an important part of that legacy. CCB is grateful for the many years of cooperation with Petro, for his knowledge and commitment, for his hospitality and friendship, and for the bridges he helped build between people and organisations working for a healthier environment. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. Petro Hrytsyshyn 1951–2026 May the memory of Petro Mykhaylovych remain with all of us who continue the work to which he devoted so much of his life.

CCB's submission on the European Ocean Act

By CCB • July 14, 2026
We support the Ocean Act objectives for improving coherence, coordination and effectiveness of EU ocean governance. However, we emphasize that the Act must deliver truly ecosystem-based management and that reaching Good Environmental Status (GES), as defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), should be established as a cornerstone of the Act.