NGOs urge Baltic countries to speed up commitments to the Baltic Sea Action Plan

CCB • March 3, 2020

Helsinki, 3 March 2020 – This week at the HELCOM Stakeholder Conference and High-level Meeting [1], Coalition Clean Balic and the WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme presented a joint ‘ Shadow Plan ’ [2] in response to the ongoing Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) update process [3]. The Shadow Plan contains recommended actions across all themes addressed by the current Action Plan.

 

The current plan was adopted in 2007 by all countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Despite ambitious goals and promises to protect and restore the Baltic marine environment by 2021, countries are still a long way off in achieving the targets that were set. According to the most recent HELCOM implementation assessment from 2018 [4], of the 177 actions and recommendations assessed, only 24% of the national actions were completed and 60% partly accomplished whereas 68% of the joint actions have been claimed as completed. 

 

“Changing the environmental state of the Baltic Sea will require that HELCOM ministers ensure the updated plan demands rigorous action from contracting parties, and an overall greater commitment by the Baltic Sea countries to achieving this goal. Tangible efforts must be taken at both national and regional levels, to deliver results that halt the dwindling biodiversity of the Baltic Sea,”

says Ottilia Thoreson, Programme Director at WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme.

The Shadow Plan relays NGOs recommended actions for HELCOM ministers that are fundamental to restore the sea back to good environmental health, support thriving coastal communities, and increase resilience to climate change. As the 2021 deadline passes, countries need to continue to address the present challenges in the Baltic, as part of their efforts to fulfil global legal framework requirements under United Nations global Sustainable Development Goals and the revised UN Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) that still remain.

“CCB made it clear in our 2018 Civil Society Declaration on Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea [5] that Baltic Region’s residents are getting frustrated and disappointed by countries inaction. Civil society is competent enough to be treated as an equal partner, to be heard and consulted appropriately and to be able to deliver policy inputs. With the Shadow Plan we are set to say NO to tolerating any kind of anthropogenic impacts on the Baltic ecosystem, calling the Governments to be serious in their commitments,”

says Mikhail Durkin, CCB’s Executive Secretary. 

The coming decade will be decisive for the state of biodiversity. Action must be taken now and so, we ask that HELCOM ministers take into account our recommendations during the Baltic Sea Action Plan updating process. We call on all Baltic countries to step up and speed up their implementation of nature protection policies.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

CCB – Coalition Clean Baltic is a politically independent, non-profit association, which unites 22 member organizations and 2 observers, with over 850,000 members in all countries around the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the Baltic Sea environment and its natural resources. More info at www.ccb.se

WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme – is an ambitious and highly influential force working to conserve and restore the health of the Balitc Sea. The programme is comprised of WWF and NGO partners in each of the nine coastal Baltic Sea countries. Representing the region’s largest membership network, the programme’s approach has been to work with public and private sector partners toward ensuring a healthy, productive Baltic Sea through sustainable, ecosystem-based management. More info at: panda.org/baltic

UN Sustainable Development Goals – The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integrated —that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. More info at: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html

UN Convention on Biological Diversity – The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force on 29 December 1993. It is known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty and has 3 main objectives, the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. More info at: https://www.cbd.int/

Contact:

Mikhail Durkin
Executive Secretary, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB)
mikhail.durkin@ccb.se
+46 739 770 793

Ottilia Thoreson
Programme Director, WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme
ottilia.thoreson@wwf.se
+46 732 745 867  

Don't reopen the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Implement it.

By CCB • June 15, 2026
The European Commission's evaluation confirms what environmental NGOs across Europe have long argued: the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)'s challenge is not its design, but its implementation.

Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027

By CCB • June 10, 2026
The poor status and decline of many Baltic Sea fish populations have been thoroughly documented over several decades, indicating that the entire ecosystem is in great distress. So far, policy interventions have not reversed, or even halted, the negative trend concerning many of these populations. The European Commission itself recently recognised in its Common Fishery Policy (CFP) evaluation report that progress on stock rebuilding is lacking and the number of stocks “ threatened by collapse due to impaired recruitment has increased during the reporting period ”. Fish populations that once formed the cornerstone of the Baltic Sea fishery, such as the eastern and western Baltic cod and the western Baltic herring, are now doing so poorly that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is advising zero catch for these stocks. Yet, even with the targeted fishery being closed for some years now, none of these three stocks are showing sufficient signs of recovery. The condition (such as size and weight-at-age) of many flatfish populations, such as plaice, also raises alarm bells. The salmon spawning migration has fallen short of the target level in the past three years5. As a result, even the healthiest salmon stocks are now unlikely to produce enough smolts corresponding to sustainable levels in the coming years. To address the crisis facing Baltic populations and the broader ecosystem, political will and ambition to improve fisheries management, alongside full implementation of the CFP provisions, are needed. The recent INI report on the Baltic Sea Multi-Annual Plan shows that the European Parliament recognises the importance of ecosystem-based fisheries management as well as the need for consideration of environmental legislation when making decisions on fishing opportunities.6 Fisheries managers must now act swiftly and decisively on the commitment the Commission and Baltic Sea Member States made at last year’s October Agrifish Council to rebuild Baltic Sea stocks. This document presents the joint NGO recommendations regarding Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027, prioritising long-term ecosystem health and sustainable fisheries management over short-term economic interests. The recommendations are based on the ICES advice, the objectives and requirements of the CFP8 and the Baltic Multiannual Plan (MAP), specifically to apply the precautionary approach and implement an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and the objective of achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Last year’s overarching joint Briefing Series on TAC-setting, co-signed by almost 30 organisations across the EU and the UK, including environmental NGOs, recreational fishers, and fishing rights owners, remains valid and provides further context, background and detailed explanations on the cross-cutting issues raised in this document. Read the Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027 here .