Motion for a Resolution by

Motion for a Resolution by

the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

The Baltic Sea in considered one of the biggest dumping grounds of Northern Europe. It is still unknown what can be done in order to neutralise nuclear waste, World War II military waste and other dangerous wastes. What can be done in relation to these hazardous wastes in order to protect whole Baltic Sea region from the danger of massive pollution and ecological disaster?

Submitted by:

Dzhirgala Badmaeva, Evgeniya Bagaeva, Svetlana Belogurova, Anastasia Fedorchenko, Anna Khan, Arina Krushevskaya, Temuri Mamuladze, Milyausha Sabirova, Sheker Saparova, Bulat Shkanov, Tran Quang Hien, Maria Zhukova, Varvara Tyurina (Chairperson, RU), Dasha Chernomorkaya (Vice-presedent, RU)

The European Youth Parliament,

A. Noting with regret that since the middle of the XX century, the environmental situation has deteriorated rapidly in many parts of the Baltic Sea:

i) industrial and agricultural wastes containing toxic substances are continually flowing into the sea from the coastal areas,

ii) the type of pollutants has changed considerably, as industrial and agricultural wastes came to contain more toxic substances dangerous to living resources;

B. Anxious with the fact that eutrophication is boosted by the nutrients which leak from the military wastes stored in the Baltic Sea bed,

C. Welcoming the mitigating effect of herbivorous fish populations on the eutrophication process,

D. Realizing that the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) limits emissions to 33 priority substances and 8 priority hazardous substances in surface waters that do not comply with those present in the Baltic Sea,

E. Bearing in mind that there is still a storage of nuclear and chemical weapon (around 65,000 tonnes of GermanyХs chemical weapons) at the sea bed dumped by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Soviet State Republic in 1947-1948 that is challenging to find and lift on the surface,

F. Congratulating the detection of traces of mustard gas on the sea bed near the Polish coast which indicate the location of military wastes,

G. Aware that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has the funds and the appropriate technology of bring the toxic wastes to the surface,

H. Keeping in mind that since 1980 the Baltic Sea has regularly been experiencing major shipping accidents resulting in oil spills larger than 100 tonnes,

I. Deeply disturbed by the fact that only 210 port reception facilities for ship-generated wastes and cargo residues are provided in the 500 seaports of the Baltic Sea area,

J. Conscious that the majority of ships at the Baltic Sea area have bilge water separators,

K. Gravely concerned by the increase in radiation levels in Baltic Sea to a point dangerous to human wellbeing,

L. Viewing with appreciation the programs of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) and International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for the protection of the Baltic Sea environment;

1. Proposes granting tax benefits to those industrial and agricultural enterprises which use eco-friendly equipment;

2. Requests introducing high fines to the companies violating the thresholds for water pollution;

3. Urges the inclusion of the Baltic Sea hazardous substances on the EQS list;

4. Resolves to introduce herbivorous fish (grass carp, silver carp and cupids) to the Baltic Sea;

5. Suggests the prohibition of bilge water separators in the waters of the Baltic Sea in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea;

6. Urges the construction of more port reception facilities for ship generated wastes;

7. Calls for the fines to be allocated to the development of the existing idea of Vacuum-On-A-Boat M.V. Recyclone;

8. Strongly recommends the European Union to cooperate with NATO to deal with the military wastes,

9. Draws the attention of HELCOM to the lack of public service announcements concerning water pollution in the Baltic Sea;

10. Call upon the European Environmental Agency to increase public awareness of the Baltic Sea issues through the promotion of ecological education projects among young people and the introduction labels on products from the Baltic Sea constraining information on the chemical content.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04