International Agreements and Baltic Sea Environmental Management

The development of the ‘ecosystem approach to the management of human activities’ (EAM) is examined as the overarching policy and management concept for conserving healthy and sustainable marine ecosystems, and the goods and services they provide for humanity in the European regional seas. The joint origin of the EAM and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (‘Rio Earth Summit’) is noted, together with their underpinning by the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle. With reference to the European regional seas, and especially the Baltic Sea, the international ‘instruments’ (e.g. conventions, agreements, guidelines) concerning management of the coastal and offshore marine environment and its living resources are summarily reviewed, and attention drawn to the increasing emphasis being placed on the EAM as the guiding concept for their application. The 2002 North Sea Ministerial Declaration (Fifth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea) adopted and outlined, for the first time in Europe, the general framework necessary for developing and implementing the EAM. The EAM framework was subsequently incorporated for application in all the European regional seas, and is central in elaborating and making operational the European Union’s primary marine management and policy instruments. The main components of the EAM framework for conserving ecosystem health are examined. The main management forums applying the EAM in the Baltic Sea area are briefly outlined. Finally, the simple, generic ways in which climate change may be addressed across relevant marine-related sectors by mitigation and adaptation are identified, and the importance of ‘linking science and policy’ is emphasized for enhancing management in a medium- to long-term perspective.