New ministerial declaration signed at Baltic conference

On 28 September, a high-level conference “Our Baltic” took place online. Organized by the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, the conference convened ministers, decision makers, scientists, and stakeholders from NGOs. Its aim was to discuss the challenges faced by the Baltic Sea and to focus on how to reduce the pressure from fisheries as well as pollutants, litter, and contaminants.

Sylwia Migdał from WWF Poland joined the panel discussion on tackling pollution from marine litter. She presented best practices and recommendations from the MARELITT Baltic project, designed to find a systemic solution to the problem of derelict fishing gear in the Baltic Sea. Ottilia Thoreson from the WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme was a panelist in the session on fisheries, presenting on the impacts of bottom trawling.

The conference resulted in a Declaration signed by the Ministers for Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries from EU Member States in the region, with the exception of Germany. The Declaration expresses serious concerns around the health of the Baltic Sea due to pressures from human activities and climate change and commits Member States to protect and improve its environment.

Read – WWF Poland take on the ministerial declaration.

This article is part of the WWF Baltic Newsletter – December 2020