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  

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

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.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.