Declaration from Copenhagen Meeting Weak, Says Estonian Fund for Nature
The Estonian Fund for Nature is not satisfied with the outcome of last week's Copenhagen meeting on improving the environmental situation of the Baltic Sea region, saying the declaration does not go far enough.
“In its current form the declaration is very weak – it leaves an impression that short-term economic interests outweigh the price of improving the environment of the Baltic Sea,” the fund's chairman, Silvia Lotman, said in a press release on Saturday regarding the agreement signed by the environmental ministers of nine countries last week.
The fund is especially unhappy with the omission of limits on nitrogen emissions from ships.
Representatives of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden convened in Copenhagen last week at a HELCOM meeting.
The nations also reviewed progress made since the signing of a similar action plan in 2007. A report by the World Wildlife Fund found that participant states have not fulfilled pledges, while HELCOM said one-third of the actions agreed in 2007 and in a 2010 declaration have so far been accomplished, with six out of 10 measures in the works.