Time to follow-up Baltic Sea Commitments

It is time to report on how the commitments made at the Baltic Sea Action Summit, held in February 2010 in Helsinki, have progressed so far. The Summit was a tip of an iceberg in the work for the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) continues the process.

On Thursday, 10 February 2011 a follow-up event will be arranged with short reports of the progress of the commitments made by states around the Baltic Sea—Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.

Examples of commitments made by companies, NGO’s and other organisations will be followed up, as well. Moreover, representatives of new commitments, made after the BSAS last year, will attend the event.

For detailed information please see

• Press release: Follow-up of Commitments made at the Baltic Sea Action Summit(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

All parts of society are needed...

To carry out the actions necessary to save the Baltic Sea, heads of state and government, corporations, business leaders and NGO’s need to work together. Saving the Baltic Sea requires the cooperation of all parties:

• political decision making on national as well as EU level;
• services, solutions and environmentally friendly business practices from companies;
• better interaction between scientists, decision makers and executors;
• monetary donations.

...and the BSAS gathered them in Helsinki

With the purpose of gathering all parties, the President of the Republic of Finland, Tarja Halonen, together with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland and the Chairman of the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG), Ilkka Herlin, launched a joint initiative in 2009: The Baltic Sea Action Summit, which was arranged in Helsinki on 10 February 2010.

• The Baltic Sea Action Summit(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

At the high-level Summit, states, companies and NGO’s met to present their commitments to solve the problems of the Baltic Sea. The international media showed a high interest in the new way of working, the social innovation, where the Baltic Sea can be rescued by cooperation between all players of society.

The Summit was part of a long-term process, and gathered all necessary parties around the same table with the aim of making sustainable decisions and commit to taking concrete actions—some 140 commitments were made!

The Baltic Sea needs immediate actions

The Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted sea areas in the world and at the brink of terminal care—it cannot wait. The HELCOM action plan (Baltic Sea Action Plan) needs to be executed as soon as possible.  HELCOM’s action plan has four main parts:

• to prevent the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea;
• to prevent hazardous substances from getting into the sea;
• safe and environmentally friendly maritime activities;
• the preservation of the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea.

Baltic Sea Action Group pulls forward the process

The Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) is devoted to rescuing the Baltic Sea. BSAG is an independent actor and acts as an initiator and a catalyst in multiple, parallel and concrete projects.

Helping in this process are political forces regardless of political ambitions, heads of states throughout the entire Baltic Sea area, public servants and other officials, NGOs, private individuals, power players of the economic world and companies. BSAG guides the know-how and resources of the private sector to concrete actions throughout the entire Baltic Sea area. BSAG thus efficiently combines the public, private and civil sectors and their resources and opportunities.

Commit to act!

BSAG collects commitments and follows them up. The idea of the commitments is to engage actors to commit to actions that best marry their interests with their abilities. Commitments can be financial or non-financial as long as they contribute to the recovery of the Baltic Sea. Ambitious commitments are welcome but every single act matters.

Commitments already made are monitored and reporting about the projects’ progress is done. On 10 February 2011 the follow-up event is a visible part of the progress monitoring.

Although over 160 parties have committed to act, everyone is invited to the joint effort of saving the Baltic Sea. There is still a considerable need for concrete projects in every country.

• Read more: Commitments to Act – How to get started?(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

We are working in a constant process, which we will continue until the Baltic Sea is rescued.