What environmental projects are being done/ initiated in Sweden?

Question

Concerning the acidic lakes and the pollution of the Baltic and North Seas...

Anything other projects concerning Sweden's water would be appreciated too.

Answer 1

There have been numerous projects undertaken by govt. and non govt. organisations including the UN concerning the polluted Baltic & North seas..plus there have been other projects for environment preservation in Sweden..

The following lists all such projects---

1.Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) :

In Helsinki, February 1990, non-governmental environmental organizations from the countries of the Baltic Sea Region united and established Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) in order to co-operate in activities concerning the Baltic Sea. CCB is a politically independent, non-profit association. At present, CCB unites 27 member organizations from Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark,Ukraine and Sweden.

The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the Baltic Sea environment and natural resources.

FOUR WAYS TO REACH THE GOAL

CCB is a politically unaffiliated, non-profit organization working primarily through

• lobbying

• information, environmental education and

other activities to raise public awareness

• concrete co-operation projects in the field

• support to member organizations.

2.International cooperation on the North Sea

OSPAR - the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Fifteen states and the EU Commission are working together within the OSPAR Convention to improve the environment of the north-east Atlantic and North Sea: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the EU Commission. The Secretariat is based in London.

The Convention deals with issues related to eutrophication, dangerous substances, radioactive substances, offshore activities in the oil and gas industries, marine biodiversity and monitoring and assessment of the status of the marine environment. At the annual meetings of the OSPAR Commission, the member countries define common recommendations and decisions on environmental regulations, and measures to improve the environment of the north-east Atlantic.

3.The North Sea Conference

In the mid-1980s, the countries around the North Sea initiated political cooperation to protect and improve the marine environment of the North Sea. In May 2006, Sweden held a ministerial meeting in Göteborg within the framework of the North Sea cooperation. The meeting focused on the environmental impact of shipping and fishing on the North Sea.

Shipping is a relatively environment-friendly means of transport but entails increased strains on the North Sea caused by the spread of non-native organisms, toxic hull paints and air pollution. Overfishing has led to the virtual disappearance of fish stocks in many places, which has created an imbalance in the marine ecology. The fishing industry is one sector affected by this. Decisions at the North Sea Conference concerning shipping included trying to reduce the nitric oxide emissions of shipping by 40 per cent and reducing the sulphur content of shipping vessel fuels.

At the Conference the ministers also agreed to jointly initiate a development project to organise a better administrative system aimed at minimising fish dumping. Because of the regulatory framework of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, it is currently not permitted to make use of certain by-catches in the North Sea and elsewhere, which are instead thrown overboard.

4.The Helsinki Convention - HELCOM

For three decades, the Helsinki Convention has been working on protecting the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all types of pollution through intergovernmental cooperation between Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the EU Commission. At the heart of these efforts are the particularly sensitive nature of the Baltic Sea region and its specific environmental, economic and social conditions. Five different working groups are implementing policies and strategies and proposing issues to be taken up for discussion at meetings.

The Monitoring and Assessment Group (HELCOM MONAS)

The Land-based Pollution Group (HELCOM LAND)

The Nature Protection and Biodiversity Group (HELCOM HABITAT)

The Maritime Group (HELCOM MARITIME)

The Response Group (HELCOM RESPONSE)

HELCOM´s work has led to improvements in several areas, but much remains to be done. To take all possible measures to reduce the pollution of the Baltic Sea and to repair the damage to the marine environment, the Baltic Sea States and the EU supported the development of a new, forward looking action plan (the Baltic Sea Action Plan- BSAP) at an informal ministerial meeting at Haga Castle in Stockholm in November 2005. This plan is to be completed in 2007 and is based on ecological objectives for a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea. These ecological objectives will serve as guidelines in the development of new measures that should be taken in the following priority areas:

Eutrophication

Dangerous substances

Biodiversity

Maritime activities

5.The Natura 2000 Network

Natura 2000 is the EU network for the protection of environments of value to nature conservation. The Government decides which areas should be included in the network and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency coordinates Swedish work on Natura 2000.

The county administrative boards have the important task of preparing conservation plans for every Natura 2000 area and of contacting landowners and other affected parties during the process. In Sweden almost 4 000 areas have been selected for the Natura 2000 network. Around 60 per cent of them already have protection as nature reserves or national parks.

Protection of forest land

Forestry has considerable impact on biodiversity in Sweden while, at the same time, forests are an important source of renewable raw materials. Valuable natural forest and other biotopes worthy of protection are threatened by felling and also by various kinds of air pollution. Today some 95 percent of productive forest land is used for forestry. About 3.6 per cent of productive forest land is protected as national parks, nature reserves or habitat protection areas. A large part of these protected areas are sub-alpine forest. Below the sub-alpine forest zone the proportion is only 0.8 per cent. Efforts are made in Sweden to strengthen and increase the protection of Swedish forest. At the same time, foresters bear substantial responsibility for ensuring that their operations are conducted in an environmentally correct way. The forest industry manages a renewable resource of great importance both for us and for plants and animals.

Management of land and water in planning

Efforts are made to ensure that environmental, nature conservation and resource management interests are taken into account in activities like land-based industries, physical planning and other public planning activities. National environmental quality objectives are intended to provide guidance in physical planning and development. Together with the Environmental Code planning and building legislation sets out the conditions for planning, for decisions on conservation and for the development of land and water areas.

The Ministry of the Environment handles matters concerning the establishment of additional national parks and national urban parks, the need for additional protection of rivers under Chapter 4 of the Environmental Code and the environmentally sensitive location of land-based and sea-based wind power.

The Ministry is also working on action for sustainable development in mountain and archipelago areas and on integrating environmental concerns into infrastructure planning. In addition, the Ministry also prepares government decisions on appeals concerning detailed development plans and building permission.