The role of private industry in implementing the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme

The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP) is an international environmental clean-up programme aimed at restoring the Baltic Sea to a sound ecological balance. Fathers of the JCP are the Prime Ministers of the Baltic Sea region. The focus is the removal of the major sources of pollution, i.e. the 132 mostly municipal and industrial hot spots that are predominantly in the Eastern countries in transition. For the urgently needed private investment a variety of contractual possibilities exist, i.e. service contracts, joint ventures and so called “Build-own-operate-transfer-contracts”. The Activity Inventory of the Helsinki Commission has identified possible room for action. Investors may either pay themselves, or for example, mobilize resources from one of the financial institutions or be sponsored by donor countries. Prime and Environmental Ministers again underlined in their 1996 Declaration, the Importance of private engagement for the clean-up of the Baltic Sea.