Last week, a meeting of ministers of the Baltic Sea Environmental Protection Commission (HELCOM) was held in Riga, where a declaration was signed confirming the commitment of HELCOM European Union member states to continue protecting and improving the state of the Baltic Sea environment. At this meeting, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) highlighted the significant delay in the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and called on ministers to speed up action to protect the Baltic Sea.
In the ministerial talks, the main emphasis was placed on Baltic Sea Action Plan implementation and prioritization based on the new insights gained from the comprehensive assessment of the state of the marine environment – HOLAS 3.
According to the HOLAS 3 report, the Baltic Sea is currently in a poor ecological state and urgent action is needed to achieve the broad objectives and improve the state of the marine environment. In almost all marine areas, fish populations are threatened and commercial fish stocks are fragile. In places, the natural food web has been disrupted. The massive growth of different species of algae, caused by the excessive entry of nutrients into the water, has led to a lack of oxygen, a decrease in water transparency and the formation of large dead zones – one third of the Baltic Sea is already dead. Climate change amplifies this immediate threat to biodiversity: the Baltic Sea has warmed faster than any other sea on the planet.
At the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Baltic Sea Program Director Johanna Fox highlighted WWF’s concerns about the significant delay in the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and reminded Baltic Sea decision-makers that it is their responsibility to step up action and ensure that the Baltic Sea ecosystem protection and restoration would become a priority for member states – both financially and legally.
One of the issues that was specifically discussed at the HELCOM ministerial meeting was the situation in the Baltic Sea with Russian ships shadow fleet. Currently, Russia, using the Baltic Sea space for transport, refuels its ships at sea, not in ports. Ships are refueled near the island of Gotland, in the territory of Sweden, but these services are provided by a Latvian company Fast Bunkering. This can pose a high environmental risk, as many of these vessels being refueled are in poor technical condition and are also uninsured. If an oil spill were to occur, it could cause significant damage to the already sensitive ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Given that the ships are not insured, this would also mean that there would be no one to cover the costs of the oil spill clean-up, as well as compensation for the environmental damage caused. They should be borne by the Member State where the accident occurred. The Baltic Sea, with the exception of a part of Russian waters, has been recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a particularly sensitive marine area, which means that this practice of refueling at sea should terminate immediately. Also, taking into account Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Latvian government should assess whether this type of commercial practice does not violate the conditions of European sanctions by offering these services to Russian for the shadow fleet. Taking into account the concerns expressed by the ministers of other countries at the HELCOM ministerial meeting, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calls on Latvia to urgently address this issue.
About WWF
The World Wide Fund for Nature is a public benefit organization registered in Latvia, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) associate partner, which has been operating in Latvia since 1991. WWF’s mission is to build a future where people and nature live in harmony. The purpose of the organization is nature protection in order to preserve the diversity of genetic, species and ecosystems, to ensure non-depleting use of renewable natural resources now and in the future, to help reduce pollution, wasteful consumption of natural resources and energy.
WWF
