Time: 11 June 2025, 18:00 (local time)
Location: Research vessel METEOR, Port of Nice, Île de Beauté, France
The high-level 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (the 2025 UN Ocean Conference) will be held in Nice, France, from 9 – 13 June 2025, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.
As part of the Conference, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), and the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) are organizing a side event titled ‘No Time to Waste: Tackling Submerged Munitions in European Seas‘.
The event aims to highlight the urgent need for joint action and open dialogue concerning submerged munitions in the sea. It will bring together decision makers, offshore infrastructure developers, security agencies, NGOs and representatives from ongoing national and international research projects to address the global issue of munitions in the sea.
The event will include a panel discussion on ‘The Baltic Perspective: front-runner regional approaches to addressing a global threat’.
Thematic islands will showcase best practices for marine munition research and remediation. These areas will be populated with international experts, each bringing specialized knowledge from different institutions and fields of expertise.
Supporting partners: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN), JPI Oceans and the German Environment Agency (UBA).
Due to limited capacity at the venue, the event will be by invitation only.
Agenda
| Time | Programme |
| 18:00 | Welcome, followed by welcome drinks – Jens Greinert, Professor and researcher at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany – Sebastian Unger, Director for Marine Protection at the BMUKN, Germany – Juhani Damski, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Finland |
| 18:15 | Panel discussion: The Baltic Perspective: front-runner regional approaches to addressing a global threat – Rüdiger Strempel, Executive Secretary, HELCOM – Sebastian Unger, Head of the Directorate Marine Protection, BMUKN – Agnieszka Jędruch, Researcher, Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, IO PAN – Virginius Sinkevičius, Member European Parliament (TBC) Moderated by Katarina Viik, Professional Secretary, HELCOM |
| 18:55 | Refreshments and ‘Thematic Islands’ exhibition Thematic Islands: o Threats of munition in the sea to the blue economy and sustainable development (Torsten Frey, GEOMAR & Andriy Martynenko, CBSS) o Security aspects of munition and its link to critical infrastructure (Mark Wernicke, Explosive ordnance disposal service of the State of Schlewsig Holstein) o What are the environmental risks of munition in the sea? (Agnieszka Jędruch, IOPAN, Romina Schuster, AWI & Daniela Henkel, GEOMAR) o How can we investigate and solve the problem of munition in the sea? (Mareike Gräfin von Keller & Jens Greinert, GEOMAR) o Immediate action programme of the German federal government (Wolfgang Sichermann, seascape & Stefan Mehlhase, BMUKN) o What legal aspects need to be considered? (Jan Buehrke, UBA & Rosario Dominguez, HELCOM) o How to participate in knowledge sharing and boost solutions? (Paul Trautendorfer & Thorsten Kiefer, JPI Oceans) |
| 19:55 | Closing words Jens Greinert, GEOMAR and Sebastian Unger, BMUKN |
| 21:00 | RV Meteor closes |
Contact
Eeva Nyyssönen
Communications Secretary, HELCOM Secretariat
eeva.nyyssonen@helcom.fi
+358406473996
Organisers
