Clean Games Baltic Cup 2020: a one-hour challenge to clean the Baltic Sea region

CCB • September 18, 2020

For the second year, on 19th September, people from all over the Baltic Sea Region will take part in the Clean Games Baltic Cup [1], a one-hour challenge aiming at cleaning up and collecting the most amount of garbage from green and coastal areas.

The tournament will be interactive through the use of a mobile app [2], allowing the participants – divided into different teams – to follow a map where the littered areas in their cities are marked. The teams will compete with each other in their city and also in the whole tournament, while the organizers will give them the scores. All results and rating will be available in an online scoreboard and the winner will get the cup.

“ Council of the Baltic Sea States appreciates Clean Games’ efforts to involve youth in the activities related to the sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region. We consider their game method of garbage collection is a good method for involving people in raising the awareness among young people about the importance of environmental voluntarism and encouraging them to be active in solving the environmental challenges ”, said Daria Akhutina, the Head of Priority Area Sustainable & Prosperous Region at CBSS Secretariat.

In 2019, 578 players from six countries (Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine) collected more than 8 tons of garbage, which were separately collected and sent for recycling.

“ We were partners of the CLEAN GAMES BALTIC CUP 2019 volunteer tournament, and after their report at the General Conference of the Union of Baltic Cities in October 2019 in Kaunas (Lithuania), members of the Union of the Baltic Cities were satisfied with the results of this tournament. We’re supporting Clean Games Baltic Cup 2020 and the following tournaments in the region ”, said Paweł Żaboklicki, Union of the Baltic Cities Secretary General.

“ We believe that if you’ll do a clean-up once, you will litter less. And our goal is to attract as many people to the clean-ups as possible. In order to do that, we developed this format. Our games are a fun way to talk about serious problems. Many people don’t want to participate in community work days. It sounds like a job. So we make a holiday for them. A fun game to play with friends and families. It attracts the attention of local communities, city administration, and socially responsible businesses ”, affirmed Dmitry Ioffe, the chairman of the Clean Games organization [3].

The Clean Games Baltic Cup is partnered with the World Cleanup Day by Let’s do it ! Foundation and the Great Global Cleanup by Earth Day. Participants can use the guidelines of both Clean Games’ and the partners’ cleanups. The partners of the Clean Games Baltic Cup are the Council of the Baltic Seas States , Union of the Baltic Cities , Coalition Clean Baltic , Baltic University Programme, Regeneration 2030 , Baltic Sea Challenge , Ars Baltica.

Notes

Additional info

Read the PR about the final results here.

Since 2014, 853 games were played in more than 300 cities in 17 countries (Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Estonia, Georgia, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Poland, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam). 59 000+ participants collected 1200+ tons of garbage. All future games are announced on the Clean Games Facebook page and the website cleangames.org For more information: press@cleangames.ru


Video about Clean Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6VU0NNkAk

Photos: https://yadi.sk/d/5gWgVDEIND7DZQ?w=1 [CCB1]  

Website of the Baltic Clean Cup: https://balticcup.org/

Website of the Clean Games: https://cleangames.org/

Contact person
Anastasia Cheglakova, PR-manager assistant
E-mail: press2@cleangames.ru

EU Commission upholds Fisheries Law: Finland's 2025 Atlantic Salmon quota reduced after unjustified overfishing in 2024

By CCB • May 7, 2025
7 May 2025 - Yesterday the European Commission took a strong decision to deduct Finland´s 2025 Atlantic Salmon quota due to unjustified overfishing last year. This action is a clear application of the EU fisheries rules - aiming to ensure sustainable fishing practices and compliance with established quotas - and an important precedent for the consistent enforcement of fisheries law. In 2024, Finland was allocated a strict by-catch quota for Atlantic salmon, with direct fishing prohibited, except for some specific, minor exceptions. Despite this, Finland reported catching 3,162 salmon in a targeted fishery, under a claimed derogation stating the fishery was for scientific research purposes. Upon review, the European Commission concluded that these activities did not meet the legal standards for such an exemption and therefore found this claim unjustified. The number of vessels participating, 32, the number of salmon caught as well as the fact that Finland refused to re-release the salmon after conducting the “scientific research” are all reasons why the fishery cannot be considered to have been carried out for scientific research purposes. As a result, the same number of salmon caught beyond the legal limit in 2024 is now being deducted from Finland’s 2025 quota, from the same stock. “ We welcome the Commission's decision to take enforcement action and apply the law as intended. It sends a clear message to Member States that exceeding quotas will have consequences. However, more consistent enforcement is urgently needed across EU waters, especially in the Baltic Sea, where many fish stocks are collapsing and the ecosystem is in a poor state ” said Aimi Hamberg, CCB Marine Policy Officer. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland has already responded to the Commission´s quota reduction for Atlantic salmon by stating that this decision “is not legally justified” and they will consider taking legal action against it. As this matter continues to evolve, it is highlighting the importance of collective responsibility in managing fish stocks sustainably. Species like salmon, herring and cod , are under increasing pressure due to overfishing, climate change and habitat loss. In this context, rule enforcement is not just a bureaucratic step but a necessary action to ensure the long-term sustainability of marine life in the Baltic Sea.

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat (closed)

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.