Author: Eeva Nyyssönen

The present Chairmanship of HELCOM, Germany, in agreement with the European Union and Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that are Member States of the European Union, has opted to prolong the suspension of all official HELCOM meetings until further notice. The suspension was initially announced in a statement issued on 4 March 2022.

All meetings of the official HELCOM bodies including the Helsinki Commission, Heads of Delegations, Working Groups, Experts Groups and other subsidiary bodies thus remain suspended.

The success of the Baltic Sea region in nominating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the emerging plans regarding Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) will be in key focus in a side event on 30 June 2022, taking place during the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

The aim is to present marine protection as a concrete example of the instrumental role of the regional sea conventions in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life under water – in particular and other global commitments in general, at the macro-regional and sea-basin levels.

The side event will present HELCOM’s Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) 2021–2030 as a best practice example for an ecosystem-based approach to marine management from science to action. The BSAP provides concrete tools for reaching the regional commitments, such as the establishment of a coherent MPA network, and the “30/10 target” referring to the expansion aim of the MPA coverage to 30 % of the Baltic Sea, with one third being strictly protected. The latter has a straight link to processes under Convention on Biological Diversity as well as the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

In addition to MPAs, the event focuses on the areas that are achieving the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas, so called Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), as referred to in Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD).

Main organizers of the event are the Ministries of the Environment of Estonia and Germany (HELCOM Chair).

UN Ocean Conference, postponed due to the covid pandemic, will be held in Lisbon, Portugal. from 27 June until 1 July, 2022.

Please find here more information about the event and stay tuned for updates.

HELCOM Green Team needs your help in identifying the main barriers, obstacles and challenges that are hindering the development of green technologies and alternative fuels in the Baltic Sea region, by answering a survey.

Replies from both current and former shipping stakeholders on green technologies and alternative fuels are welcome. You are kindly invited to provide any information and share challenges you have faced in e.g. a project, investment, development, plan or any other specific case related to green technologies and/or alternative fuels in shipping.

The survey, which has been ongoing since 2018, is part of the HELCOM Green Team reporting mechanism that seeks to gather constant feedback from shipping stakeholders on green technologies and alternative fuels. The results, compiled once a year, are used to facilitate knowledge and information sharing among the private sector, decision makers and the general public, and to promote an early introduction of new technological solutions and alternative fuels.

We also encourage to share the survey with relevant stakeholders (shipowners, technology developers, shipyards, port operators, R&D etc.) and projects in the field.

It should take you about 10 minutes to complete the survey. All answers are handled anonymously.

Take the survey now

We are looking for a service provider to develop our “HELCOM Indicator website”, an online repository of about 50 individual indicators – fact sheets that provide specific information about the health of and the pressures on the Baltic Sea’s marine environment. 

Interested parties should express their interest by 30 April 2022.

Additional information can be found in the following documents:

The present Chairmanship of HELCOM, Germany, in agreement with the European Union and Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that are Member States of the European Union, has opted to prolong the suspension of all official HELCOM meetings through 30 June 2022. The suspension was initially announced in a statement issued on 4 March 2022. 

Official meetings of all HELCOM bodies including the Helsinki Commission, Heads of Delegations, Working Groups, Experts Groups and other subsidiary bodies that were due to take place in the period between March through June 2022 are suspended and will be rescheduled. Participants of these meetings will be informed of any further developments in due course.

If you are or have been dealing with green technologies and alternative fuels in shipping, the HELCOM Green Team needs your help for identifying the main barriers, obstacles and challenges that are hindering their development in the Baltic Sea region. Share your views by 3 May 2022, using our  survey.  

The survey, which has been ongoing since 2018, is part of the HELCOM Green Team reporting mechanism that seeks to gather constant feedback from shipping stakeholders on green technologies and alternative fuels. The results, compiled once a year, are used to facilitate knowledge and information sharing among the private sector, decision makers and the general public, and to promote an early introduction of new technological solutions and alternative fuels.

The results of the 2022 compilation are due to be presented at the next HELCOM Green Team meeting. The outcome of this meeting will then be forwarded to the HELCOM Maritime Working Group with proposals for further action to be taken.

It should take you about 10 minutes to complete the survey. All answers are handled anonymously.

• Take the survey now

In reaction to the current situation in Ukraine, the present Chairmanship of HELCOM, Germany, in agreement with the European Union and Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that are Member States of the European Union, has suspended all meetings of HELCOM bodies and meetings of project groups with Russian involvement under the HELCOM umbrella with immediate effect and through April 1st, 2022.

Read the related statement:

Due to the current political situation, the German Chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission has postponed the 43^rd Meeting of the Helsinki Commission, scheduled to take place on 3 and 4 March 2022.

Read the related statement by the German Chairmanship of HELCOM on behalf of the European Union and the Contracting Parties to HELCOM that are Member States of the European Union:

To investigate the potential of protective measures in the Baltic Sea beside marine protected areas (MPAs), HELCOM, in cooperation with the FAO and IUCN WCPA, held a workshop on other effective area-based conservation measures, or OECMs, on 1-3 February 2022.

“OECMs, a relatively novel conservation approach, are an important part of the HELCOM agenda as well, as reflected by the 2021 Baltic Sea Action Plan, which contains no fewer than seven actions related to spatial conservation measures, and which explicitly refers to OECMs in several places,” said Rüdiger Strempel, the Executive Secretary of HELCOM, adding that OECMs could, among other things, contribute to strengthening the overall coherence of the HELCOM MPA network.

The workshop contributed to developing a common understanding of the applicability of the OECM criteria to the specific situation in the Baltic Sea, as well as a better comprehension of the potential of OECMs for supporting the attainment of the HELCOM objectives on marine conservation, including their interplay with existing MPAs.

“OECMs should have a spatial component, bring clear biodiversity benefits that are long lasting, and should not cause any significant harm to other biodiversity attributes as a consequence of their implementation,” explained Jannica Haldin, the Deputy Executive Secretary of HELCOM.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the distinguishing criterion between MPAs and OECMs is that the former have a primary conservation objective, whereas OECMs deliver effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity regardless of their primary objectives.

“From the perspective of biodiversity in the sea, labels do not matter – what matters is the effect a measure has on the environment,” said Haldin. “The main principle of OECMs is that they must provide a positive outcome for biodiversity.” 

“Using a measure as a starting point is what differentiates the OECM process from traditional conservation approaches, and enables us to consider the effect of measures that weren’t initially put in place for conservation purposes,” added Haldin. 

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines other effective area-based conservation measures as areas other than protected areas including MPAs that “achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in-situ conservation of biodiversity”, which in turn contributes to preserving “ecosystem functions and services” and in some cases “cultural, spiritual, socio–economic, and other locally relevant values”.

The workshop was attended by a broad range of stakeholders dealing with issues related to the marine environment, bringing together representatives of government agencies, non-governmental organization and academia.  

The XXII International Environmental “Leonid Korovin” Baltic Sea Day Forum 2022 will be held in Saint-Petersburg (Russia) on 22-23 March 2022. The central theme of this year’s edition will be the updated HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP).

Other topics will notably include environmental monitoring of the Baltic Sea and the ongoing HOLAS 3 assessment, elimination of the HELCOM hot spots, and marine litter.

Organized every year since now over 20 years, the forum fosters cooperation on current issues related to the Baltic Sea’s environment. The forum has established itself as a regional meeting place for a wide array of stakeholders including policy makers, researchers, experts, authorities, businesses and NGOs, who gather each year to address the pressing issues the Baltic Sea is facing and to identify cooperation opportunities.

A youth event will also be held back-to-back, the Youth Day of the Baltic Sea that will be take place on 24 March 2022. The event will promote a dialogue among young people of the Baltic Sea region. It will also seek to engage youth in Baltic Sea related policy- and decision-making and activities related to the HELCOM BSAP and CBSS Baltic 2030 Action Plan priorities. It will also facilitate a mutual and cross-generational understanding of the challenges the Baltic Sea is facing, and what solutions young people have to offer.

The Baltic Sea Day 2022 will be conducted in a hybrid format, with the possibility to attend online.  HELCOM, CBSS, John Nurminen Foundation and SWAM are due to attend, among other regional and national stakeholders.

Registration is open until 10 March 2022.

For more details, programme and registration, please visit the Baltic Sea Day Forum 2022 website (in English): http://helcom.ru/baltic_sea_day/BSD_2022_year