When high officials from the nine Baltic Sea countries met in Helsinki on Monday and Tuesday to discuss measures to improve the environment of the Baltic Sea, a decision that would have helped curb emissions of nitrogen oxides from ships was delayed. Intensive lobbying from the shipping industry has made governments back down from earlier promises to take quick action reduce ship pollution.

When governments signed the ambitious Baltic Sea Action Plan in 2007, one of the agreed measures was to call for the Baltic Sea to be designated a "Nitrogen Emissions Control Area" by the International Maritime Organisation. Studies have revealed that such a designation would lead to the reduction of nitrogen emissions from ships in the Baltic Sea by approximately 80 percent compared to current levels.

 "Given that eutrophication is the biggest environmental problem of the Baltic Sea, and that making the Baltic Sea an Emissions Control Area would help reduce this serious threat substantially, there is no excuse for inaction", says Kristjan Piirimäe, eutrophication expert for Estonian Fund for Nature

Emissions of nitrogen oxides from ships cause eutrophication of the Baltic Sea and create ground level ozone that are harmful to human health and the natural environment. Shipping in the Baltic Sea is estimated to contribute about 9 percent of the nitrogen oxide and 5 percent of the total nitrogen depositions to the sea. It has been shown that if nothing is done to curb them, emissions of nitrogen oxides from shipping will exceed those from all land based sources by 2020.

In an earlier meeting between representatives from the Baltic Sea states, an Emissions Control Area in the Baltic Sea was declared the only way to substantially reduce nitrogen oxides from ships. The United States and Canada have already established an Emissions Control Area for nitrogen oxides from shipping around their coasts. This regulation entered into force in August this year. The next meeting with the IMO where Nitrogen Emissions Control Areas will be discussed, will be held in March 2012.

"The Baltic Sea region has the chance to become a forerunner in this area but will soon miss this opportunity", says Kristjan Piirimäe, eutrophication expert for Estonian Fund for Nature. "Governments still have a chance to put the health of the Baltic Sea first, honour their earlier commitments, and make a submission to the IMO in March. The current lack of direction inhibits needed action from the industry and might even punish those who have been first to invest in technology to decrease nitrogen emissions”

For more information, please contact:

Kristjan Piirimäe, eutrophication expert, Estonian Fund for Nature

Tel:. +372 5116916, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mattias Rust, Conservation Officer, WWF Sweden

Tel. +46 702 12 63 14, Email. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Information to editors:

Increasing shipping activities contribute significantly to the air and sea pollution in the Baltic Sea region. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from ships cause acid depositions that can be detrimental to the natural environment and most importantly contribute to eutrophication. Shipping in the Baltic Sea is among the largest contributors to NOx deposition to the Baltic Sea. According to the recent estimates, the total NOx emissions from ships in the Baltic were more than 393kton NOx in 2008. Within 2000-2006, shipping in the Baltic was the second largest contributor (9%) to the deposition of NOx, and the fifth greatest contributor (5%) to the total nitrogen deposition to the Baltic Sea.(source: HELCOM; http://www.helcom.fi/shipping/emissions/en_GB/emisions/)

HELCOM.  The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea countries and the European Union which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention