SUMMING UP THE RESULTS OF THE YEAR 2004
Interview with Valdur Lathvee, the Coalition Clean Baltic Chairman
Taken by Alexander Fedorov

Q: What was the year 2004 for Coalition Clean Baltic?

A: The year 2004 was a remarkable year for the Coalition Clean Baltic, as for the whole region, because of the political changes. Accession of the new member countries in the European Union in May 2004 has created a new political situation.
It has moved the decision-making point concerning the Baltic Sea marine environment to Brussels from Helsinki and Warsaw (locations of two major bodies for protection of the Baltic environment, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, HELCOM, and the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission). Now much more of the cooperation between the Baltic Sea countries is going to be at the EU level. We expect this being an important move towards better protection of the Baltic Sea marine environment as the Baltic has become more or less an internal sea for the European Union. And this has already resulted in many concrete results. For example, we already have ban for single-hull tankers for transportation of crude oil in Baltic Sea ports. This decision of EU has also impacted those countries that are outside the EU, for example Russia, as they see benefits of harmonisation of environmental legislation and of the environmental practice.

The other remarkable thing was that the long-lasting work of Coalition Clean Baltic has been recognised widely by the governments. Practically, we are more and more able to speak out and present NGO positions on international forums. As an illustration for such recognition, I can mention the Environment and Nature Award granted by the Nordic Council to CCB in 2004 for successful cooperation involving all the Baltic countries in protection of the Baltic Sea.

The CCB work for the environment has been recognised also by the NGO community. In May 2004 in Estonia at the VIth NGO Baltic Forum, CCB was chosen as the environmental NGO network for the Baltic Sea region in the context of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). At this Baltic NGO Forum, other NGO sectors just started to create networks on order to improve their cross-border cooperation, improve the overall civic society development. In the environmental sphere the CCB network was recognised as already existing and will serve for the needs of the whole region.

The CCB recognitions have come from different places, like the Baltic Sea Fund. Maria Staniszewska, member of the CCB Board and President of the CCB member organisation Polski Klub Ekologiczny (PKE), received recently the Baltic Sea Prize 2005 for the work she has done for reduction of the nutrients load to the Baltic.

Q.: What are presently the main environmental problems for the Baltic Sea?

A.: When we look at the Baltic Sea environment, we see that old problems are still remaining, where eutrophication is the key issue. The latest reports by the Swedish authorities about the state of the Baltic environment are very alarming. We are kind of losing our control from our hands. Very rapid radical actions are needed.

The second major concern is related to oil transportation through the Baltic Sea. In 2004 the volume of oil transit over the Baltic Sea Corridor exceeded the one through the Black Sea Corridor. The number of ships carrying oil is growing. Within ten years the overall oil volume carried by ships in the Baltic Sea has doubled. This increases threats of major oil accidents. And we continue to stress that governments should take more actions to improve shipping safety and impose more control over the oil transit and over the ships generated and long based oil wastes management, because oil load to the Baltic comes also from the land sources.

Q.: Will you please point out major accomplishments by CCB in 2004?

A.: One important success that I can mention is definitely the decision by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in spring 2004 to grant the status of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) to the Baltic Sea. This is also our victory, because three years ago CCB raised the goal to go for the PSSA status for the Baltic Sea at the meeting of transport and environment Ministers in Copenhagen after the Erica accident for the first time. After this decision, broader opportunities are open for protection of sensitive sea areas from the shipping risks, pollution etc. Now, we have to focus our attention on that individual states are applying measures that are available under the IMO Convention and its annexes and protocols for the better protection of the Baltic environment.

Q.: How you can comment the position of Russia on granting the PSSA status to the Baltic Sea?

A.: Russia did not support the application of other Baltic Sea states to the IMO for granting the Baltic Sea the PSSA statute. Therefore, the waters of the Russian part of the Baltic Sea are not included in the PSSA. However, we have already seen important initiatives from the Russian side, we see that Russia applies actually the same principles. For example, Russia declared that since May last year it does not use single-hull tankers for transportation of crude oil from Primorsk. These measures are very welcome. But we also urge that Russian Federation takes legally binding commitments concerning oil transportation, not only declarations.

Q.: What failures could you name concerning the CCB activities in 2004?

A.: One of the failures we feel today is that Baltic Agenda 21 has not gained still its status as it was planned by environmental ministers back in 1992 when the initiative was started. Today the Baltic Agenda 21 is still at a very low status in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). The potential of the process remains largely unused. We spent a lot of time and lot of efforts, and in the beginning we felt a very good development and very strong impact of the process onto improvement of environmental performance of different sectors around the Baltic Sea. The countries did great work and had great commitments. But today we see that the initiative is declining. However, we believe that the potential of this initiative is still there and has to be used.

Second one, to mention, is failure of some countries to comply with Espoo convention and relevant HELCOM recommendations to carry out proper EIA for large infrastructure projects with impacts on the Baltic Sea marine environment.

Q.: What are the main challenges CBB is facing now?

A.: The main challenges for the coming years are definitely to focus more on the work with our members in the Russian Federation and with Ukraine and Belorussia whose part is also located in the Baltic Sea catchment area, to support environmental groups and civic society in these countries, to properly tackle environmental problems there.

The second priority for us is to improve cooperation with other networks that work on the same issues that CCB is working: on marine environment - with WWF, Greenpeace, European Seas at Risk, on nutrients and eutrofication reduction – with such European networks like European Environmental Bureau. This type of cooperation is necessary in order to achieve results, to pressure on governments, and to strengthen the ability of NGOs to mobilise people to make right choices, and politicians to make right decisions.

Q.: What would you like to wish CCB member organisation for the year 2005?

A.: I wish them a successful year, and really I wish them to use the successes, which we have gained in 2004, to mobilise their work, to use these successes for promoting themselves as members of CCB, to gain more strength on the national level, and to strengthen the work they do on daily basis.