Towards a new plan, for CCB and the Baltic Sea

CCB • May 24, 2019

The CCB Board Meeting (16-17/05), Annual Conference (18/05) and Extraordinary General Meeting (19/05) were held in Baltezers, Latvia, at Baltvilla Hotel.

The Board Meeting addressed important issues, including the approval of:

The theme of CCB’s Annual Conference 2019 was “ Towards a new plan, for CCB and the Baltic Sea “.
In the first part, there were group discussions and presentations on the project proposals for 2020-2021 of CCB Working Areas: Water Protection in Agriculture, River Basin and Wastewater Management, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Hazardous Substances and Marine Litter, Harmful Installations and Maritime Transport, Sustainable Development in Coastal and Marine Areas.

Moreover, some participants from the transboundary Daugava river rafting/kayaking expedition , which took place on 14-17 May, talked about the event and shared their experiences.

In the second part, participants were guided by two external consultants from Presencing Institute through the process of “looking inwards” into the values of the coalition and reinvigorate the “soul of the coalition”. Agenda of the day consisted of:

  • Introduction and lecture about systems thinking, divides we see in world, Theory U

Related documents:
– Presentation from Julie Arts, PI
– Executive summary (in different languages): https://www.presencing.org/resource/executive-summaries
– Tools: https://www.presencing.org/resource/tools

  • Quality of Listening & Dialogue + Exercise: dialogue walk
  • 3-D Sculpting: sculpt current reality of what the coalition looks like today and imagining desired optimal future and identification of actions
  • Prototyping Cafe: moving into joint action around topics/initiatives that want to be discussed further (coming out of 3-D sculpting)

During the General Meeting, the CCB Board accepted two new member organizations, SOFIA (Sweden) and Center for Environmental Solutions – CES (Belarus), and elected the new Board Member from Russia and the new Alternate from Sweden.

CCB´s events ended with a guided tour at Kemeri National Park.

CCB expresses a warm welcome to the new organisations and board members and wishes a strong and successful collaboration for the upcoming years.
These meetings represented once again an important moment for all of us to share ideas and strengthen our relations towards a new plan of actions and the CCB 30th Anniversary in 2020.

Last but not least, a special thanks to all the participants and sincere gratitude to Janis Matulis and his colleagues from “ Latvian Green Movement ” for their support in the organisation of CCB´s events.

(foto credit: Andis Uzulnieks, LaGM ).

Fisheries Ministers Risk Breaking EU Law, Jeopardising Baltic Sea Recovery

By CCB • October 28, 2025
EU Council decision on 2026 fishing limits fails to implement legally required safeguards, jeopardising the fragile marine ecosystem

Petition launched to stop new oil and gas drilling in the Baltic Sea

By CCB • October 3, 2025
3 October 2025 - Coalition Clean Baltic, together with its Member Organization BUND - Friends of the Earth Germany and the citizens’ initiative “ Lebensraum Vorpommern ”, have launched a petition to stop new oil and gas drilling projects in the Baltic Sea . The petition comes in response to plans to exploit a deposit just 6 km offshore Świnoujście , Poland, in the transboundary waters of the Oder Estuary and Pomeranian Bay. The planned site lies at the heart of NATURA 2000 protected areas , which are vital for biodiversity, climate action, and local communities. Oil and gas extraction in the Baltic Sea poses severe threats to its fragile ecosystems. Industrial activities such as drilling, pipeline construction, and ship traffic risk polluting the water with chemicals, oil leaks, and toxic waste. Underwater noise from pile driving and increased traffic would further degrade marine habitats. These pressures add to the already critical challenges faced by the Baltic Sea, including biodiversity loss, eutrophication, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. The consequences extend far beyond nature. Local communities rely on a clean and healthy Baltic for tourism, fishing, and quality of life. Expanding fossil fuel infrastructure would also undermine Europe’s climate commitments and lock in carbon emissions for decades to come. The petition calls on the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Poland, the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), the European Commission, and the Secretariat of the Espoo Convention to : Stop the plans for oil and gas extraction in the Oder Estuary and the Pomeranian Bay; Ban any new oil and gas extraction across the Baltic Sea; Ensure strong cross-border cooperation and communication amongst all involved states. The petition is open through the WeMove Europe´s platform and can be signed here .