External meeting
3rd Informal Consultation Session of the Reduction of Pressures from Sea-based Sources Working Group 8 (IC WG SEA-BASED PRESSURES 3-2024)
April 2, 2024
External meeting
3rd Informal Consultation Session of the Reduction of Pressures from Sea-based Sources Working Group 8 (IC WG SEA-BASED PRESSURES 3-2024)
Start date: April 2, 2024
End date: April 4, 2024
Time:
Place: Gothenburg, Sweden
Address:
Official meetings of all HELCOM Working and Experts Groups and other subsidiary bodies are postponed due to the HELCOM strategic pause until further notice, however, informal consultation sessions, without Russian participation, are organized and hosted by a Contracting Party.
The informal consultation sessions process and discuss documents and provide guidance and recommendations as to how to progress work.
The informal consultation sessions process and discuss documents and provide guidance and recommendations as to how to progress work.
Description
While official meetings of all HELCOM Working and Expert Groups and other subsidiary bodies are postponed due to the HELCOM strategic pause until further notice, informal consultation sessions, without Russian participation, can be organized and hosted by a Contracting Party.
The third informal consultation session of the Reduction of Pressures from Sea-based Sources Working Group (IC WG SEA-BASED PRESSURES 3-2024), hosted by Sweden, was held in Gothenburg, Sweden at the offices of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Gullbergs strandgata 15) on 2-4 April 2024. The session started on Tuesday 2 April 2024 at 10:00h local time and ended on Thursday 4 April 2024 at 15:00h local time.
CCB participant in the session
- Mikhail Durkin, CCB Executive Secretary
- CCB Project Manager
- Bettina Taylor, BUND and CCB Co-Chair
Outcomes of the meeting
- In this context, the Session invited the Secretariat to cooperate with the leads of action S60 (Estonia and Sweden, supported by CCB) as well as Germany, to compile the currently available BAT/BEP on impulsive underwater noise. The Session further invited the leads, in cooperation with other interested parties, to develop draft Guidelines on BAT/BEP for impulsive underwater noise, to be submitted to IC RAP NOISE 2-2024 and IC SEA-BASED PRESSURES 4-2024 for consideration. The Session also invited Estonia to provide additional information based on their latest (published in 2023) national project on underwater noise, which also included possible mitigation measures of impulsive noise.
- The Session took note of concerns expressed by CCB, that the contaminant loads for certain substances are still quite high, as demonstrated in the final draft assessment report, and that not all Contracting Parties have reported TBT contaminant loads, which should become a requirement.
- In conclusion, the Session supported the initial idea of establishing a new expert group on cumulative impacts in principle, and welcomed the interest expressed by Germany, Sweden and CCB to participate in the work of the group if established.
- The Session took note of the view by CCB that cumulative impacts, as also discussed above, is one of the main reasons why Recommendation 17/3 needs to be reviewed. CCB also pointed out that information and consultation within HELCOM has not taken place in the context of large infrastructure projects in the Baltic Sea in recent years. The Session further took note that CCB is considering organizing a workshop to discuss the review of Recommendation 17/3.
- The Session took note that CCB encouraged Contracting Parties to support the adoption of the proposed threshold value "A minimum of 10% of the entire seabed, of which between 5 and 15% of each benthic broad habitat type in an assessment area, should be free from all manageable anthropogenic pressures affecting the seabed. Where necessary, restoration can be undertaken in these areas to enable the ecological succession towards recovery".
- several Contracting Parties and CCB are of the view that amendments to the Helsinki Convention may be needed to allow CCS in the Baltic Sea area
Participation supported by
CCB's participation in the event was supported by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither
the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.
The third informal consultation session of the Reduction of Pressures from Sea-based Sources Working Group (IC WG SEA-BASED PRESSURES 3-2024), hosted by Sweden, was held in Gothenburg, Sweden at the offices of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Gullbergs strandgata 15) on 2-4 April 2024. The session started on Tuesday 2 April 2024 at 10:00h local time and ended on Thursday 4 April 2024 at 15:00h local time.
CCB participant in the session
- Mikhail Durkin, CCB Executive Secretary
- CCB Project Manager
- Bettina Taylor, BUND and CCB Co-Chair
Outcomes of the meeting
- In this context, the Session invited the Secretariat to cooperate with the leads of action S60 (Estonia and Sweden, supported by CCB) as well as Germany, to compile the currently available BAT/BEP on impulsive underwater noise. The Session further invited the leads, in cooperation with other interested parties, to develop draft Guidelines on BAT/BEP for impulsive underwater noise, to be submitted to IC RAP NOISE 2-2024 and IC SEA-BASED PRESSURES 4-2024 for consideration. The Session also invited Estonia to provide additional information based on their latest (published in 2023) national project on underwater noise, which also included possible mitigation measures of impulsive noise.
- The Session took note of concerns expressed by CCB, that the contaminant loads for certain substances are still quite high, as demonstrated in the final draft assessment report, and that not all Contracting Parties have reported TBT contaminant loads, which should become a requirement.
- In conclusion, the Session supported the initial idea of establishing a new expert group on cumulative impacts in principle, and welcomed the interest expressed by Germany, Sweden and CCB to participate in the work of the group if established.
- The Session took note of the view by CCB that cumulative impacts, as also discussed above, is one of the main reasons why Recommendation 17/3 needs to be reviewed. CCB also pointed out that information and consultation within HELCOM has not taken place in the context of large infrastructure projects in the Baltic Sea in recent years. The Session further took note that CCB is considering organizing a workshop to discuss the review of Recommendation 17/3.
- The Session took note that CCB encouraged Contracting Parties to support the adoption of the proposed threshold value "A minimum of 10% of the entire seabed, of which between 5 and 15% of each benthic broad habitat type in an assessment area, should be free from all manageable anthropogenic pressures affecting the seabed. Where necessary, restoration can be undertaken in these areas to enable the ecological succession towards recovery".
- several Contracting Parties and CCB are of the view that amendments to the Helsinki Convention may be needed to allow CCS in the Baltic Sea area
Participation supported by
CCB's participation in the event was supported by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither
the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.