Applications are invited for the post of Communication Secretary at the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) Secretariat to take care of the external communication and public relations activities of HELCOM. The post, which is based in Helsinki, Finland at the Commission’s Secretariat, will be become vacant on 1 February 2023.
Candidates with the required expertise and qualifications are invited to submit their application no later than 14 November 2022.
The recently updated online tool HELCOM Explorer allows to easily see how HELCOM cooperation bears fruit, and how the countries’ actions are being fulfilled when reaching the majority of their ambitious HELCOM targets and the ultimate goal: Baltic Sea in good ecological state.
The actions listed in the Explorer include the entire updated Baltic Sea Action Plan (2021), HELCOM Ministerial Meeting commitments from 2010 onwards as well as selected HELCOM Recommendations. The updated BSAP contains 199 concrete actions and measures addressing biodiversity, eutrophication, hazardous substances, and sea-based activities such as shipping and fisheries. In addition, it includes new actions on emerging or previously less highlighted pressures such as climate change, marine litter, pharmaceuticals, underwater noise, and seabed disturbance.
The updated BSAP is also closely aligned with international and regional objectives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), or, for those of our Contracting Parties that are also EU members, the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). All actions are to be implemented by 2030 at the latest.
“As the HELCOM Explorer provides a comprehensive overview and a great amount of information on both joint and national actions, with easy filtering tools, it is quite a unique system in regional marine governance. Moreover, it is a very concrete indicator of transparency for our stakeholders and to the broader audiences”, says Rüdiger Strempel, Executive Secretary of HELCOM.
Joint actions are carried out together by all HELCOM Contracting Parties, for example creating a new Recommendation, joint management guidelines, or assessments of environmental status. National actions are implemented at the country level, and they include e.g. incorporating the provisions of a HELCOM Recommendation into relevant national legislation or guidelines.
The Explorer allows for easy overview browsing, but also for more detailed filtering, according to the details of the actions in the Baltic Sea Action Plan such as segment, theme, or target year. The tool further provides information on why the action is needed (rationale), what pressures or activities are addressed by the action in question, and, for some, what is the potential effect of the measure to reduce pressures or improve the state of the Baltic Sea. All data is available for download.
The HELCOM Explorer tool to track the progress on the implementation of HELCOM commitments was first launched in 2016, and the interface was updated in 2020.
The reporting on the implementation of the joint actions is done by relevant HELCOM Working Groups and the reporting on the national actions by the countries. The first reporting on the implementation of actions in the 2021 BSAP is planned to take place in 2025, followed by the second reporting round in 2029.
Project Researcher
laura.kaikkonen@helcom.fi
Associate Professional Secretary
susanna.kaasinen@helcom.fi
The Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) is HELCOM’s strategic programme of measures and actions for achieving good environmental status of the sea, ultimately leading to a Baltic Sea in a healthy state.
Initially adopted by the HELCOM Contracting Parties in 2007, the 2021 BSAP is based on the original plan and maintains the same level of ambition. It also retains all actions previously agreed on that are still to be implemented, while, in addition, includes new actions to strengthen the existing efforts and tackle emerging concerns.
Guided by the HELCOM vision of “a healthy Baltic Sea environment with diverse biological components functioning in balance, resulting in a good ecological status and supporting a wide range of sustainable economic and social activities”, the updated BSAP is divided into four segments with specific goals: biodiversity, eutrophication, hazardous substances and sea-based activities.
One of the most important duties of the Helsinki Commission is to make Recommendations on measures to address certain pollution sources or areas of concern. Since the beginning of the 1980s HELCOM has adopted some 260 HELCOM Recommendations for the protection of the Baltic Sea. The implementation of various HELCOM recommendations by the HELCOM Contracting Parties plays an important role in achieving the objectives of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The HELCOM Explorer covers the reporting on the implementation status of selected HELCOM Recommendations.
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – also known as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) – is an intergovernmental organization (IGO) and a regional sea convention in the Baltic Sea area, consisting of ten members: the nine Baltic Sea countries Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden, plus the European Union. A platform for environmental policy making at the regional level, HELCOM works for a healthy Baltic Sea. Its mandate stems from a regional treaty, the Helsinki Convention, whose implementation it oversees. The HELCOM Secretariat is located in Helsinki, Finland.
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is an intergovernmental organization (Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden) with its headquarters (Secretariat) in Helsinki, Finland, working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. At present, we are around 30 staff members at the HELCOM Secretariat, and our working language is English. We offer an open, friendly, dynamic and energetic, often fast-paced, international working environment offering all staff members the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to achieving our common goals. For more information about HELCOM, please visit our home page: www.helcom.fi.
We are currently seeking to recruit an enthusiastic expert to strengthen our team as a Project Researcher in the field of hazardous substances, specifically on the Biological Effects of Contaminants (marine/aquatic/environmental contaminants).
The recent update of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP 2021) and preparatory work leading up to this have identified the need for a strengthening of work related to the Biological Effects of Contaminants in HELCOM (i.e. in the Baltic Sea marine environment). The main focus of this work is to make significant steps towards achieving action HL13 in the BSAP 2021: ‘By 2028 develop further relevant monitoring for the biological effects of hazardous substances in order to facilitate a reliable ecosystem health assessment’. To support the fulfilment of this regionally agreed action and take steps towards it this project will initially focus on reviewing existing methodologies and exploring possible harmonisation, developing and testing an integrated approach that can be applied across the region, and developing a series of relevant recommendations for future use or future development regionally in this field.
The work builds on previous processes within HELCOM, including the following:
The Project Researcher’s task is to review suitable Biological Effects of Contaminants methodologies, carry out the development and testing of an integrated assessment approach for the region, and develop recommendations on future work and harmonisation options with relevance to the Baltic Sea (HELCOM) region. The activities include:
The tasks are expected to be carried out independently. However, the Project Researcher will cooperate with the HELCOM staff involved, who will provide comments and general guidance on the overall HELCOM framework. The HELCOM Expert Group on Hazardous Substances (EG HAZ), in particular the recently formed sub-team focussing on Biological Effects, will support and guide the work. EG HAZ is an international network of regional experts that works to enhance regional collaboration and serves as a platform for information exchange. The work carried out in the project will also be reviewed and guided by relevant HELCOM Working Groups (WGs). Relevant work may also enter the Third Holistic Assessment of the Baltic Sea report (see the 2018 version).
The Project Researcher is responsible for reporting and communicating of project work and outcomes to relevant HELCOM groups. In addition, the person may be requested to work in other processes and projects related to the same topics/field.
The tasks require a background in the Biological Effects of Contaminants, including mixture and combined effects and statistical approaches for their identification. Expertise in a closely related field, such as marine biology, ecology, ecotoxicology, or environmental chemistry, will be beneficial. Documented expertise and knowledge related to the statistical evaluation of multiple drivers of physiological response in aquatic organisms, the impacts of contaminants in the marine/aquatic environment, and interdisciplinary work are also a significant benefit.
The appointment is planned to be full time, starting in September or early October 2022 and for a duration of 18 months. The monthly salary is 2.800 € per month. Please note, that the HELCOM salaries are exempt from Finnish income tax.
Candidates with the required expertise and qualifications are invited to submit their application (consisting of a CV and a motivation letter) via e-mail to recruitment@helcom.fi no later than 21 August 2022. Please write “Project Researcher HAZ Biological Effects” in the subject field of the message. Interviews are tentatively planned to take place at the Secretariat on 31 August 2022.
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is an intergovernmental organization (Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden) with its headquarters (Secretariat) in Helsinki, Finland, working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. At present, we are around 30 staff members at the HELCOM Secretariat, and our working language is English. We offer an open, friendly, dynamic and energetic, often fast-paced, international working environment offering all staff members the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to achieving our common goals. For more information about HELCOM, please visit our home page: www.helcom.fi.
We are currently seeking to recruit an enthusiastic expert to strengthen our team as a Project Researcher in the field of hazardous substances (marine/aquatic/environmental contaminants).
The recent update of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP 2021) and preparatory work leading up to this have identified the need for the development of a well-defined and functional strategic framework for addressing hazardous substances in HELCOM (i.e. for the Baltic Sea region). The main focus (or final outcome) of the project is to develop a document that represents a strategic holistic approach to manage hazardous substances (with an action plan). To achieve this final aim a number of preparatory steps are needed to build on previously carried out work and identified gaps.
The work builds on previous processes within HELCOM, including the following:
The Project Researcher’s task is to carry out the preparatory work needed and subsequently develop a strategic framework for addressing hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM) region. The activities include:
The tasks are expected to be carried out independently. However, the Project Researcher will cooperate with the HELCOM staff involved, who will provide comments and general guidance on the overall HELCOM framework. The HELCOM Expert Group on Hazardous Substances (EG HAZ), in particular the recently formed sub-team focussing on the strategic approach, will support and guide the work. EG HAZ is an international network of regional experts that works to enhance regional collaboration and serves as a platform for information exchange. The work carried out in the project will also be reviewed and guided by relevant HELCOM Working Groups (WGs) and presented for adoption to the Heads of Delegation (HODs) at a final stage.
The Project Researcher is responsible for reporting and communicating of project work and outcomes to relevant HELCOM groups. In addition, the person may be requested to work in other processes and projects related to the same topics/field.
The tasks require a background in environmental chemistry, managing hazardous substances /environmental contaminants, or a corresponding field. Previous expertise and knowledge related to environmental policy (e.g. the Baltic Sea Action Plan, related HELCOM Recommendations, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Water Framework Directive, REACH, Industrial Emissions Directive, or the Stockholm Convention), national action plans and measures to address contaminants in the marine environment, marine biology and interdisciplinary work are also a significant benefit.
The appointment is planned to be full time, starting in September 2022 or early October and for a duration of 18 months. The monthly salary is 2.800 € per month. Please note, that the HELCOM salaries are exempt from Finnish income tax.
Candidates with the required expertise and qualifications are invited to submit their application (consisting of a CV and a motivation letter) via e-mail to recruitment@helcom.fi no later than 21 August 2022. Please write “Project Researcher HAZ strategic” in the subject field of the message. Interviews are tentatively planned to take place at the Secretariat on 1 September 2022.
Mass balloon releases and confetti are sometimes used outdoors to celebrate special occasions. While they may look pretty, pieces of them often end up on beaches and in the sea, contributing to the marine litter problem and becoming a serious hazard to marine animals and birds.
KIMO International and HELCOM invite you to take part in a survey, which collects information from each Baltic nation on mass releases of balloons and of plastic confetti outdoors. The results will contribute to a report which will help to complete the picture of the situation in countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Moreover, the information will feed into HELCOM’s regional work against marine litter.
By completing this survey, you will be contributing to the achievement of actions RL12 and RL13 of HELCOM’s Regional Action Plan on marine litter, as well as joining the global community working in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.1 Life below water.
The survey takes only about 10 minutes to complete. The individual answers will be handled anonymously. Please answer by 31 August 2022.
Your participation is key to understanding the extent of problem and how it can best be addressed. Thank you for your contribution!
If you have any questions or comments please email: info@kimointernational.org
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.
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.
HELCOM and Germany recently held a joint workshop on blue carbon to investigate its potential as a climate change mitigation option and to establish a common understanding of the meaning of “blue carbon” in the Baltic Sea region.
According to the workshop participants, conservation and restoration of blue carbon habitats should be part of the toolkit for mitigating climate change, as these measures do not pose a major environmental risk. At the same time, it was cautioned against using blue carbon as an excuse to not reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the source.
In addition to climate change, blue carbon should also be considered in the light of one of the other major crises we are currently facing, namely biodiversity loss, as improved marine ecosystem health is one of the co-benefits of blue carbon habitats.
On the definition, the workshop participants suggested that “blue carbon” should be understood as “one form of marine-based carbon dioxide removal” and “the net organic and inorganic carbon sequestered and stored in coastal, brackish and marine ecosystems”, which encompasses “coastal, brackish, and marine ecosystems, e.g., saltmarshes, seagrass beds, macroalgae and sediments”.
Held online on 17-18 November 2021 and co-organized by HELCOM and Germany, the workshop was attended by climate change and marine conservation experts from the Baltic Sea region. It was part of the work under the priorities set by the German chairmanship of HELCOM on climate change, notably on strengthening scientific and policy exchange on the effects of climate change in the Baltic Sea region as well as on potential mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The outcome of the workshop will also be presented at the next HELCOM Stakeholder Conference on Climate Change on 9-10 March 2022.
To provide a better understanding of the effects of climate change in the Baltic Sea, Baltic Earth and HELCOM have recently published the first Baltic Sea Climate Change Fact Sheet. The publication compiles the latest available science in the region on what has now become a global emergency.
“The Baltic Sea Climate Change Fact Sheet provides a summary for policy makers of the latest scientific knowledge on how climate change is currently affecting the Baltic Sea and about what we can expect to happen in the future,” said Prof. Markus Meier from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde and Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, and chair of the Baltic Earth Science Steering Group, who coordinated the publication as leading authority on climate change in the Baltic Sea.
According to the fact sheet, in the Baltic Sea, water temperature and sea level will rise, and sea ice cover will decrease – in turn affecting ecosystems and marine species, as well as maritime activities such as shipping, fisheries and aquaculture.
“Water temperatures of the Baltic Sea have been increasing during the past 100 years and are projected to further increase during the 21st century,” said Prof. Meier, adding that the current projections suggest a largely ice-free Baltic Sea during normal winters by the end of the century.
Jointly developed by Baltic Earth and HELCOM, the Fact Sheet contains information about 34 parameters ranging from air and water temperature to marine and coastal ecosystem services, grouped into six different categories: energy cycle, water cycle, carbon and nutrient cycles, sea level and wind, biota and ecosystems, human activities, and services.
“With the fact sheets, we want to make sure that decision-makers are informed about the latest scientific knowledge on climate change and its impacts on the marine environment and maritime activities of the Baltic Sea,” said Jannica Haldin who is overseeing climate change related work at HELCOM.
A complete yet concise and easy to read publication, the fact sheet is meant to help policy makers to include climate change considerations in their work and decisions. More broadly, it also seeks to inform the public about the effects of climate change in the Baltic Sea.
The fact sheet is a summary of the regional counterpart, the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports, of the world wide reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, empowering decision makers to carry out timely, ambitious and coordinated climate action.
About 100 experts from the entire Baltic Sea region were involved in the making of the fact sheet, which was developed by the Joint Climate Change expert network (EN CLIME) run by Baltic Earth and HELCOM. The Baltic Sea Climate Change Fact Sheet is expected to be updated every seven years.
Good environmental status, or GES, and a Baltic Sea in healthy state are at the core of the HELCOM BLUES project that was officially launched online from 2 to 4 February 2021. Co-funded by the European Union and led by HELCOM, the Baltic-wide effort will run through 2022, for a total period of two years.
To help attaining GES in the Baltic Sea, the HELCOM BLUES project will support the development of new and regionally coordinated measures addressing various pressures affecting the sea. It will also back assessments of the state of the Baltic through improved monitoring, notably on biodiversity, marine litter and underwater noise.
“HELCOM BLUES is an opportunity to fill the gaps we have identified so far during our journey towards good environmental status in the Baltic Sea,” said Jannica Haldin, the overall project manager and HELCOM senior expert dealing with biodiversity matters. HELCOM is concluding its first analysis ever of the sufficiency of measures (SOM) currently in place for easing the pressures on the sea, with the results expected to inform the work of the new project.
“GES is a Baltic-wide objective, and we can only achieve it through a collective effort and regional cooperation,” said Jana Wolf, the HELCOM project coordinator in charge of the day-to-day operations of HELCOM BLUES. In total, 14 partners and seven subcontractors with various backgrounds such as policy, research, academia or civil society and hailing from six Baltic Sea countries are involved in the project.
“The project also closely links to the big processes related to GES in the Baltic such as the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD), the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) and the next Holistic Assessment of the Baltic Sea (HOLAS III),” said Haldin.
On the MFSD, the specific requests expressed by the EU in its initial call for project proposals – which is at the origin of HELCOM BLUES – were taken into account, notably on the development of effective regional measures to reduce existing pressures to the Baltic Sea, with a focus on biodiversity, marine litter and underwater noise. Furthermore, all results of the project will be made accessible to the Baltic Sea countries who are also EU member states to support their national obligations under the MSFD.
The outcomes of the project will also underpin the implementation of the updated Baltic Sea Action Plan that is due to be adopted in October 2021 by providing monitoring data and guidance on the implementation of measures.
It will also support HELCOM’s next Holistic Assessment of the Baltic Sea (HOLAS III) covering the period of 2016 to 2021. The project will notably provide improved assessment data, for instance by improving the capacity for biodiversity reporting and the development of indicators on marine litter and underwater noise.
Project activities
The project is built around seven activities:
More info
