The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) has been awarded the prestigious 2009 Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award.
The award-giving body, The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), cited HELCOM for having taken “marine environmental protection to a new level”.
HELCOM , the governing body of the 1974 and 1992 Helsinki Conventions, works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.
“HELCOM has shown exemplary commitment to improving the Baltic Sea through the adoption of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The Action Plan takes on the complexity of issues that need to be addressed in an innovative manner, linking it to ongoing initiatives and becoming the backbone of the environmental actions in the coming Baltic Sea Strategy.”, SIWI said in the official citation.
HELCOM will receive the award at a ceremony in Stockholm on September 17 on the eve of a Ministerial Conference on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will personally present the award.