-by Alexander Hoffmann
A study by the Boston Consulting Group for WWF found that cleaning up the Baltic Sea would result in enormous economic gains. Sweden would profit by 3.98 billion dollars a year, and all countries around the Baltic Sea together even by 44.2 billion dollars, the consulting report suggests according to Radio Sweden (2014, July 14). 70,000 new jobs could emerge in Sweden, foremost in the sectors of tourism, fishing and agriculture. Environmental minister Lena Ek welcomed the report, which shows ways to bring together environmental and economic gain.
Action appears urgent as the bottom of the Baltic Sea is soon to be dead and algal blooms start earlier every year, scientists from Stockholm University found. It may be due to the warming climate that blue-green algae appear three weeks earlier than 35 years ago. The potentially poisonous algae called cyanobacteria thrive in waters over-fertilized by runoff from farms, such as the Baltic Sea.
The new findings join earlier data that have shown that large parts of the Baltic have an unacceptable status for plants and animals, and that 59 species are threatened. These entail all marine mammals, many birds and even common species like the bladderwrack. Despite efforts by the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM), which is a governing body to protect the Baltic marine environment, some species even became extinct. The economic viability of a clean-up shall give new support and financial backing to community clean-up programs, new clean-up technologies like drones, and investments in abolishing sources of pollution. Building sewage treatment plants in places identified as pollution hotspots by HELCOM, for instance, has proven to be a successful tool to improve water quality.
Sources:
Eye on the Arctic (14-06-2014). “Baltic Sea studies: Cleanup would benefit region’s economy, algal blooms arriving earlier.“ Radio Sweden, reproduced by http://news.algaeworld.org/2014/07/baltic-sea-studies-cleanup-benefit-regions-economy-algal-blooms-arriving-earlier/
HELCOM (14-12-2015): “Six pollution hot spots cleaned up in the Baltic Sea”. http://helcom.fi/news/Pages/Six-pollution-hot-spots-cleaned-up-in-the-Baltic-Sea.aspx
Auer, Matthew R. & Nileneder, Eve (2002): “Cleaning Up Hotspots in the Baltic Sea Area Basin: An Appraisal of the Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme”. The NEBI Yearbook 2001/2002. pp 81-102
BalticSTERN (2013): “State of the Baltic Sea”. Havs- och vattenmyndighetsrapport 2013:4. Stockholm Resilience Center. http://stockholmresilience.org/download/18.416c425f13e06f977b14a55/BalticSTERN_State+of+the+Baltic+Sea.pdf
Discovery of a Sustainable Baltic Sea 