Statement of the Chairperson and Executive Secretary, Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB

CCB • February 25, 2022

25 February 2022

Environmental NGOs and networks like CCB* are not political. However, a war in our region is unprecedented and not a matter of normal political discourse in choosing how to protect the environment best or how to restore our ecosystems.

CCB as a network of NGOs was created in 1990 to join people from all countries in the Baltic Sea catchment area in a common cause: to improve our shared environment, to learn from each other and to understand each other’s culture and tradition.

Green organizations everywhere stand for peace and respect for all life on Earth. CCB was created with the underlying passion for borderless societies and hope of a new future without walls and distrust.

At this time, we chose to comment on the terrifying situation in Ukraine for the sake of people and of life itself. We must stand together because our friends that share our goals live in all the countries in the region. We make no difference between people regardless of nationality, origin or domicile.

We, civil society organizations, act in an open, transparent and non-violent way. Green NGOs in our region were part of the liberation movements after 1989, not supporting any political path of left or right but only the right for nations and nature to exist.

We must now again stand for the right to exist in peace for both our Ukrainian and Russian friends. Nature will remain our common value and language of dialogue, but we condemn any kind of violence and aggression in any form it occurs.

We are not afraid of each other, we trust each other, and there will never again be a wall between us. Instead, we will strive to protect the most important thing – human life, not to destroy it!

Aija Caune                                                       Mikhail Durkin
CCB Chairperson                                           CCB Executive Secretary


This statement is supported by the following individual CCB Members and partners:
– Polish Ecological Club, Main Board
– Estonian Water Association
– Friends of the Baltic
– Green Federation “GAIA”
– Friends of the Rivers of Ina and Gowienica Association – TPRIiG
– Nerush
– Danish Society for Nature Conservation
– Public Council of the South Coast of the Gulf of Finland

*CCB – Coalition Clean Baltic is a network of 26 environmental NGOs from 11 Baltic Sea Region countries, striving to protect the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea for present and future generations.

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.