CCB General Meeting and Annual Conference Baltic 10 on Biodiversity and the Baltic Sea, 7-9 May 2010, in Palanga, Lithuania

CCB • May 7, 2010

The CCB General Meeting and Annual Conference Baltic 10, took place in Palanga, Lithuania, between 7-9 May.

On 10 May, following the CCB Meetings, a workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its implementation was held in Palanga.

For further information about the CCB General Meeting and Annual Conference Baltic 10, as well as the workshop on the Marine Strategy Framwork Directive, please see below.

We now have the pleasure to invite you to Lithuania to the CCB Baltic 10 Conference and General Meeting!

This year the CCB Baltic Conference and General Meeting will be held in Palanga , Lithuania. The programme starts on Friday evening with registration and social event from 18.00 onwards and ends on Sunday afternoon with an excursion.

Biodiversity and the Baltic Sea – challenges for environmental NGOs

is the theme for this year’s Conference. During the conference we will discuss different aspects of biodiversity and the Baltic Sea and actions within CCB priority areas that can be taken to reduce Baltic biodiversity loss. The draft programme can be found below.

General Meeting

The CCB General Meeting will be held on Sunday morning before lunch.

Working Group Discussions on CCB Priority Areas

On Saturday afternoon there will be Working Groups about CCB priority sub-areas. These discussions will be the base for the CCB Work programme 2011.

Poster Presentations

All participants are welcome to present their work connected to the theme of the Conference on a poster. Also posters presenting other activities done within the CCB Member organisations connected to CCB Priority Areas are most welcome. If you plan to bring posters, please send in requests for exhibition space to the CCB Secretariat.

Language

The working language of the Conference will be English.

Excursions

On Sunday afternoon there will be an excursion, most probably to the Pajuris regional park between Palanga and Klaipeda . More information: http://pajuris.info/en

Conference Venue

The Conference will be held at Gabija Hotel in Palanga . Accommodation and meals are provided at the same location. Palanga is situated on the Baltic coast 25 km North of Klaipeda. Palanga has a small regional airport with regular flights to/from Copenhagen and Riga. It takes approximately four hours to travel from Vilnius to Palanga by bus.

Expenses

No admittance fee is charged for the conference. However if you cancel less than ten days in advance you have to pay your own costs for accommodation if no alternate is arranged.

For participants from CCB member organisations and associated partners, CCB will cover the costs for accommodation and meals.

Travel Costs and Reimbursement

We urge member organisations to cover the travel expenses for their participants.

Participants from Ukraine and Belarus : The travel expenses will be covered from Sida-funding. Reimbursement will only be paid for the most non-expensive and convenient way of travelling. We recommend participants from Ukraine and Belarus to travel buy train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

Participants from Russia : There will be funding available for a limited number of participants from Russia . We recommend participants from Russia to travel buy train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

Beyond that, there are very limited funds for reimbursement of travel costs for participants from Latvia , Lithuania , Estonia and Poland. Also participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland we recommend to travel by train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

All reimbursement claims from all countries must be confirmed by the CCB secretariat!

No travel reimbursements will be made without confirmation given in advance! The travel costs will be reimbursed after the conference when you submit to the CCB secretariat a reimbursement form and all your original receipts of your travels.

Please note that you have to state your requested total amount for travel reimbursement ( SEK /EURO), local transport and potential Visa cost included, in the application form. To keep the budget-line for the Baltic 10 conference, CCB can only guarantee that you will get the amount that you have stated in the application form.

When booking your travels please be aware of the CCB environmental travel policy that states that all journeys shorter than 400 km must be undertaken by bus or train. Air travel can only be considered if the distance is longer than 400km .

Application

Fill in the registration form and send it by fax or e-mail to Sara Nilsson at the CCB International Secretariat (secretariat@ccb.se).Latest date: 19th of April There will be no reimbursements granted after the last day of registration (due to administrative constraints) so for those of you that want to apply for reimbursement it is essential to meet the deadline. Indicate in the form if you apply for reimbursement or not.

Please note that we only have room for a limited number of participants. We will confirm to all applicants on their possible participation in the Conference, so do not book your ticket before you have your participation confirmed by the CCB International Secretariat!

Visa Application

For those of you who need Visa please contact Jurate Morkvenaite. Please send your passport data and home address, so that an invitation can be sent to you for Visa application. Usually, you will be best off with a “Schengen Visa”, which will normally take up to ten days to be granted.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the CCB secretariat or Jurate Morkvenaite!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jurate Morkvenaite      E-mail: jurate@zvejone.lt
Environmental club      Phone/FAX: +370 5 2377134
”Zvejone”                        Mobile phone: +370 685 72505

 

CCB Secretariat        E-mail: secretariat@ccb.se
Östra Agatan 53       Phone: +46 18 711 155
SE-753 22 UPPSALA     Fax: +46 18 711 175
SWEDEN

We wish you a warm welcome to Lithuania!  
“Zvejone” and Coalition Clean Baltic

Presentations & related documents upon request.

Workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

On 10 May, a workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its implementation will be organised in Palanga, Lithuania, following the CCB general meeting and annual conference. The meeting is aimed at NGOs engaged in environmental work in the Baltic Sea region. It is organised by the Fisheries Secretariat (FISH), Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne Eko-Unia and Fundacja Nasza Ziemia. All CCB members and other NGOs in the region are very welcome to attend.

Draft programme upon request.

 

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.