Ministers agree on environmental goals for the Baltic Sea

After several hours of debates in Copenhagen environmental ministers from the Baltic Sea countries agreed that phosphorus and nitrogen pollution needs to be cut dramatically to save the Baltic Sea.

The negotiations almost came to a halt when Russia refused to reduce ship emissions before a compromise was eventually reached. Lennart Gladh, Baltic Sea expert at the World Wildlife Fund, was disappointed by the soft approach.

“Almost 15 percent of the world’s shipping goes through the Baltic Sea and we are expecting a 50 percent increase within the next 30 years. If you expect to see any environmental results the entire transport sector needs to take its responsibility, not just road transport”, Gladh tells Swedish Radio News.