Baltic Rim Economies - Baltic Port List

Expert article 912 Baltic Rim Economies, 21.12.2011 Quarterly Review 5�2011
Words cannot save the Baltic Sea
By Liisa Rohweder
The need of intensifying the protection of the marine
environment of the Baltic Sea and the sustainable use of its
resources is a widely accepted truth. If we do not act now,
we might lose the beautiful sea and its ecosystem forever.
The WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme, comprised of
WWF and partner organizations in each of the 9 coastal
Baltic Sea countries, has been working for decades to
protect the Baltic Sea. We have stressed the need for bold,
hi-level political leadership to address the many challenges
facing the Baltic Sea and have thus been active in
influencing a number of agreements and conventions
agreed by Baltic Sea governments intended to ‘save the
sea’. WWF Finland is one of the partner organizations in
the Baltic Ecoregion Programme.
Words and agreements, however, cannot ‘save’ the
Baltic Sea without the delivery and follow-through of the
promises made. In 2007 we began to evaluate the degree
to which governments were delivering upon their stated
commitments – in the form of ‘Scorecard’ reports.
Unfortunately, one of the key conclusions from these
scorecard reports was that there was a growing gap
between the statements and commitments made by
governments and the corresponding actions needed to
actually deliver upon their promises.
The latest WWF Baltic Sea Scorecard report was
launched in August 2011. This report measured each of the
nine coastal Baltic Sea countries’ performance in
implementing some of the most important international,
regional and European agreements and conventions
designed to manage and protect the Baltic Sea. On the
basis of commitments made in these agreements, the 2011
scorecard assessed a limited number of key indicators
within five focal areas of crucial importance to the Baltic
Sea and its health: Eutrophication, Hazardous Substances,
the Protection of Biodiversity, Maritime Activities, and
Integrated Sea Use Management – the last being a more
integrated approach to planning and managing the use of
the sea and its resources. These five areas are all
interlinked and dependent on each other. Negative or
positive trends within one area will have immediate effects
on the other areas as well. Special consideration was taken
to grade Russia on a similar scale, even though all
agreements and policies did not apply, as Russia is not an
EU Member.
The Scorecard measured what each of the 9
governments actually delivered in these crucial areas and
therefore how well political commitments were being met –
as no agreement – no matter how ambitious – can be
successful without equally ambitious delivery and
implementation. The results of the analysis was expressed
in 4 grade levels – from the top grade of ‘A’ to the weakest
grade ‘C’ and at the bottom of the scale is an ‘F’ indicating
a failing grade.
The results of the 2011 Scorecard are disappointing;
the total grade for the whole region is an F, indicating that
governments have failed to take their responsibility in the
work to improve the situation for the Baltic Sea. At the top
of the scores are Germany and Sweden, both earning a C
grade. All other countries received an F. Finland ranked
third, followed by Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland,
Latvia and Russia in last place.
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The areas of most concern regarding lack of adequate
follow-through by governments include Eutrophication and
the Protection of Biodiversity, which unfortunately reflects
well the poor situation in the Baltic Sea with yearly algal
blooms and declining species and habitats. There has been
some improvement when compared with earlier scorecards
in the areas of Hazardous Substances, Maritime Activities
and Integrated Sea Use Management, even though the
overall score, for all countries together, in each of these
areas is still only a C.
As the Scorecard demonstrates, words and agreements
cannot ‘save’ the Baltic Sea without the delivery and followthrough
of the promises made. These poor grades clearly
indicate that the Baltic Sea countries are still failing to
deliver upon their commitments and take the actions
needed to protect and restore the Baltic Sea.
Baltic Sea Governments must show leadership and
demonstrate their leadership and with actions, not only
words. This and future Scorecards will continue to highlight
the difference between commitments and delivery as the
lack of action today is undermining the ambitions to save
the Baltic Sea.
In addition to implementing existing agreements it is
also time for governments to reform policies so that they
work in harmony and not at cross-purposes which is too
often the case today.
There is for example a need to redirect the EU
Common Agricultural Policy from the current emphasis on
intensification - which contributes to increased
eutrophication - to instead supporting farmers to investing
in sustainable agriculture which can promote biodiversity
and a clean thriving rural environment.
Another example is the need to reform the EU Common
Fisheries Policy to stop overfishing and ensure the
sustainability of fish stocks, ecosystems and fishing
communities.
And while government action and leadership is
essential, it is not enough. It is the collective responsibility
of all ‘users’ of the Baltic Sea’s resources - businesses,
communities, individuals, and civil society - to come
together to secure the protection and sustainable
development of this region.
We intend to revisit the Scorecard in the coming years
in order to measure and monitor Government’s progress –
and see if they are, in fact, doing what they promised. We
hope that providing a picture of the current situation will
help encourage countries, governments, corporations and
individuals to engage in and speed up the fight to protect
and restore our joint treasure – the Baltic Sea.
For more information about the scorecard, please visit:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/baltic/p
ublications/?201517/WWF-Baltic-Sea-Scorecard-2011-
Report or http://wwf.fi
Liisa Rohweder
CEO, PhD (Econ.)
WWF Finland
Finland
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