Policy Area Hazards

Preventing and reducing pollution and tackling legacy pollution

The Member States of the Strategy call for actions to prevent pollution and reduce the use of hazardous substances, to mitigate new contamination and remediate historic contamination.

Hazardous substances and contamination threaten ecosystems, water quality and human health across the Baltic Sea Region. It is one of the main pressures on the Baltic Sea and a main driver of biodiversity loss.

The macro-region faces pressures from ongoing emissions, legacy pollution and new types of contaminants, while fragmented monitoring, regulation and knowledge limit effective prevention and remediation. Climate change adds to the cumulative pressure. Macro-regional cooperation strengthens alignment between policies for upstream and downstream measures, for monitoring and risk management, supports shared learning and improves the capacity of authorities and stakeholders to prevent and reduce pollution.

What can we do together?

Macro-regional cooperation allows stakeholders, policymakers and support organisations to share expertise, coordinate approaches and develop initiatives that would be more difficult to achieve individually or within the national borders.

Policy Area Hazard Coordinator pools resources and coordinates activities to prevent pollution and reduce the use of hazardous substances, mitigate new contamination and remediate historic contamination.

Policy Area Hazards is coordinated by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water management (SwAM).

Prevent pollution and reduce the use of hazardous substances

Why?

Hazardous substances remain a significant pressure on the Baltic Sea Region, part of a triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Persistent chemicals such as per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS,) pharmaceutical pollutants and microplastics accumulate in the environment, affect biodiversity and pose long-term risks to human health. Micropollutants are regulated through a number of EU legislation such as the REACH regulation, the Urban Wastewater treatment directive (UWWT), the Water Framework directive and the Environmental quality standards directive.

Implementation of existing EU and regional legislation and requirements remains uneven, and many authorities face gaps in monitoring, data and guidance for risk assessment. Technical, research and methodological support is needed to manage hazardous substances effectively. Awareness raising is needed at the national, regional and local levels, in industries and the general public on PFAS and chemicals management as a part of the solution to address the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Youth could support amplifying efforts in awareness-raising.

These challenges highlight the need for more preventive, coordinated and capacity-building approaches across the macro-region, as well as reconciling upstream and downstream measures.

This Action calls for initiatives towards

• organisations increasing their institutional capacity to implement EU directives regarding urban wastewater treatment, pollution prevention and circular products and procurement due to macroregional cooperation
• organisations increasing their institutional capacity to implementing national actions in the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) related to hazardous substances due to macroregional cooperation.
• effective practices and solutions for prevention, mitigation and substitution are transferred across borders and taken up by administrations
• number of events, studies, projects organized or started that consider climate change in their description

Mitigate new and remediate historic contamination

Why?

Historic contamination from industrial activities accumulated in soil and sediments, hazardous substances in marine wrecks, as well as in items deliberately dumped to the Sea, such as munitions, continues to pose environmental and safety risks and contamination of sediments across the Baltic Sea Region.

Fragmented responsibilities, limited guidance and lack of knowledge on remediation of underwater emissions hinder coordinated assessment and prioritisation of polluted areas and submerged objects, while challenges linked to nutrient recycling and sludge contamination complicate circular economy efforts. Climate change further increases uncertainty, and there is a lack of knowledge in how it influences contaminants stored in sediments and accelerates the degradation of submerged materials.

At the same time, contaminants from wastewater end up in sludge and prevent recycling, since food producers and other parts of the industry do not want to use the sludge or soil improvement products derived from it, because of the risk of having hazardous substances ending up in the soil and farm field.

These challenges highlight the need for stronger coordination, better knowledge and improved preventive and remedial approaches across the macro-region.

This Action calls for initiatives towards

• more HELCOM sea-based hot spots for contaminated sediments, wrecks and munitions are identified/cleaned up
• more programme priorities and funding calls designed to support the HELCOM work on sea-based hot spots for contaminated sediments, wrecks and munitions
• increased knowledge on climate change effects on chemicals stored in sediments and on decomposition of munitions
• effective prevention, mitigation and remediation practices are transferred across borders and adopted by relevant administrations

Get in touch with the Policy Area Coordinator

Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

Louise Floman

louise.floman@havochvatten.se