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On 24 March 1974 the Baltic Sea States signed the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, known as the 1974 Helsinki Convention. This was the first international agreement to cover all sources of pollution, whether from land, sea or air. It also regulated cooperation to combat marine pollution by oil and other hazardous substances. In its first two decades, considerable progress was achieved within the framework of the 1974 Helsinki Convention, including improvements in the sanitary conditions of previously polluted water, significant reductions in discharges of organochlorine compounds from industry and of lead emissions from land-transport, and rehabilitation of some formerly seriously endangered living species. In 1992, a new Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area was signed by all the countries bordering on the Baltic Sea and by the European Economic Community. When the 1992 Helsinki Convention entered into force on 17 January 2000, the 1974 Helsinki Convention ceased to apply. Today work continues to limit discharges of nutrients and hazardous substances from land-based activities, prevent pollution by shipping, and conserve natural habitats and biological diversity – activities in keeping with the overall goal of the 1992 Helsinki Convention to bring about sustainable development and use of natural resources in the Baltic Sea Area. Baltic Marine Environment Protection |
