The war in Ukraine has serious consequences for the environment in the Baltic Sea.
The Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea - also known as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) - which is currently chaired by Germany, suspended its meetings one week after the Russian invasion on 24 February.
The situation has paralysed the work of the intergovernmental organisation, which was founded in 1974 by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the European Union. Over the years, some successes have been achieved, particularly at the wastewater treatment plants in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. However, due to the sanctions, the maintenance and modernisation of the old infrastructure is at risk, as it is currently not possible to continue direct cooperation with Russia.
The John Nurminen Foundation, founded in 1992, also had to suspend its projects to protect the Baltic Sea with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for the time being. This also includes a project far inland, which extends across the Bug (the border river between Ukraine, Poland and Belarus) and the Vistula into the Baltic Sea:
The plans launched in 2016 by the Nurminen Foundation and the city of Lviv in Ukraine and financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation and the European Energy Fund for a biogas plant in Lviv to remove phosphorus from wastewater have also been put on hold.
Source: euractiv June 22
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