The Greatest Water Management Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region

CCB • August 10, 2023

The new CCB Report “The Greatest Water Management Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region” is now available.

10th August 2023 - The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is one of the most important legislations in place in Europe to protect the aquatic environment and secure water quality for human needs through a holistic and adaptive freshwater governance system.


In our newly published report “The Greatest Water Management Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region”, we present an assessment of the current water management situation in 8 Baltic countries where the data were available. We describe the status of natural retention, how efficient water management planning is and what actions are particularly needed. We address the essence of restoration of natural retention as remedy for current water management problems.


“This new report is an interesting look at the possible challenges and threats to the Baltic Sea from the perspective of Baltic countries that are struggling with various investment and organizational problems, affecting the quality of Baltic waters and ecosystems dependent on surface and ground waters”, commented Prof. dr hab. inż. Tomasz Walczykiewicz, Vice-Chairman of the IMGW-PIB Scientific Council in his opinion (1).


It is known already that the Good Ecological Status (GES) of waters will not be achieved by most countries by 2027, which is the deadline set by the WFD. Our research confirms that the existing model of water resources management does not fully provide a solution to water problems and more - it needs stronger cross-sectoral and transboundary cooperation. It is crucial to remember about our WHY- making and our national efforts. We must also remember that a Good Ecological Status in the Baltic is strongly dependent on the Good Ecolog‍ical Status of the rivers in the catchment.


Therefore, further steps to improve the condition of the Baltic Sea must be pursued in every possible way, such us:

  • Nutrient reduction and implementation of buffer zones as a standard in the BSR
  • Progress in dam removal and re naturalisation of rivers
  • Massive and immediate cessation of drainage of wetlands and reduction of maintenance activities on rivers
  • Improvements in wastewater management
  • Recovery plan for Ukraine's war damages related to water and sanitation


“In order to take action on such a wide scale of needs, investment funds for the cohesion policy and regional development are necessary. It is also necessary to improve water management and to adapt the EU Common Agricultural Policy. Not one river, not one country counts on it”, says Ewa Leś, editor & one of the authors of the Report and CCB Working Area Leader on Eutrophication.


This report is aiming to support and foster positive changes in integrated sustainable water management in the Baltic Sea region countries, through a source to sea approach. 


Furthermore, an extended analysis about major challenges for water management in Poland will be available soon. 


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NOTES

(1) The full opinion is available in the Report´s preface (page 5).

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.