Contacts: Washington: Miriam Van Dyck (1-202) 458-2931
e-mail mvandyck@worldbank.orgWASHINGTON, February 25, 2002—As part of an international effort to fight the environmental decline of the Baltic Sea, the World Bank today approved the implementation of a Baltic Sea Regional Project for the Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia, Republic of Lithuania, Republic of Poland and the Russian Federation. The project, which will have a total cost of US$12.1 million, is funded by a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund of US$5.5 million equivalent, with expected contributions from other co-financiers and project beneficiaries of some US$6.6 million equivalent. The Baltic Sea is an important source of economic activity for approximately 90 million people who live along its coastline and within its drainage area. It is also an ecosystem under extreme stress. The three main threats to the Baltic Sea are eutrophication caused by excessive load of nutrients, contamination from industrial activities, and overexploitation of living marine resources. The project, which is based on the Llarge Marine Ecosystem concept, will provide support to integrated land, coastal and open sea activities to strengthen the local and regional capacity for achieving sustainable ecosystem management of the Baltic Sea resources. Activities for the project will be undertaken in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Federation, along the Baltic coastal areas and in the adjacent coastal and open sea areas. The project will support the improvement of data collection, its analysis, assessment and evaluation. It will also provide tools for better decision-making by government bodies. The project will support investments targeted at a cost-efficient reduction of nutrient run-off from farms and activities for coastal zone management in the recipient countries. In addition, it will empower local communities to manage agricultural and coastal resources and promote the sustainable use of fisheries. The project builds on previous World Bank environmental projects in the Baltic Sea area. These mainly targeted the reduction of the pollution from municipal sources and promoted integrated coastal zone management. The project will be implemented by the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) in cooperation with the International Council for Exploration of the Sea, (ICES), the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission (IBSFC) and Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a mechanism for providing new and additional grant and concessional funding to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures to achieve agreed global environmental benefits in the four focal areas: Climate change; Biological diversity; International waters; and Ozone layer depletion. GEF also supports the work of the global agreements to combat desertification and eliminate persistent organic pollutants. The World Bank Group is one of GEF’s implementing agencies and supports countries in preparing GEF co-financed projects and supervises their implementation. It plays the primary role in ensuring the development and management of investment projects. The Bank draws upon its investment experience in eligible countries to promote investment opportunities and to mobilize private sector, bilateral, multilateral, and other government and non-government sector resources that are consistent with GEF objectives and national sustainable development strategies. Since 1991, the World Bank Group has committed $1.52 billion in GEF resources and $2.25 billion in Bank group co-financing for GEF projects in 80 countries. In addition to GEF and Bank resources, it has mobilized additional co-financing of $5.48 billion from other donors. For further information on the World Bank’s GEF program, visit http://www.worldbank.org/gef For further information on GEF, visit http://www.gefweb.org. |
For more information about the World Bank’s work on environment issues in ECA, please visit our web site at http://www.worldbank.org/eca/environment |
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