Minister of the Environment of Finland Ville Niinistö, welcome address at the EBSA workshop 4 March, in Helsinki Finland
actual speech may differ from the written version
I warmly welcome Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary of the CBD, to Finland, and to give a welcome address to this workshop together with me.
The protection of the Arctic environment is a key issue for Finland. We work actively for this in the Arctic Council and other regional bodies, in different UN contexts and on the national level. The government of Finland adopted an Arctic Strategy in 2013. It sets ambitious goals with regard to our responsibilities towards a truly sustainable development in the region. The development of networks of nature conservation areas is one of the goals, aiming at a stronger environmental protection and at the same time clarifying the framework for economic activity. The tasks include the development of Arctic conservation areas, such as the protection of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction , with attention to the international sea area around the North Pole. At the same time it is urgent to identify and address any valuable marine areas, whether open or coastal sea - based on their ecological and biological significance. Assessment and compilation of information in a joint process is of high value to promote valuable areas for protection.
These issues are very high on my agenda, and on the agenda of the government of Finland, and I sincerely thank the CBD for the opportunity to host this workshop. I also thank all the experts who have gathered here in Helsinki to give their contribution to the protection of the most significant arctic marine areas. The Arctic region has very rapidly moved from being a remote - even uninteresting area – to be a area of great international and economical interest. This workshop is therefore very timely and the results urgently needed for future work and decision making. The arctic region is one of the last and most extensive continuous wilderness areas in the world. The arctic environment is still comparatively clean but the region is sensitive to climate change, long range transported pollutants and increased economic activity. When recognizing this, and having good experiences from EBSA workshops in other parts of the world, it is essentially important to have this workshop right now, and feed in to further decision making processes.
The twelfth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention of Biological Diversity will take place in October in South Korea, and the work on EBSA will be on the agenda among other important items, which I think is exciting and important. The CBD has been convening a series of regional workshops to facilitate description of areas meeting EBSA criteria, which has helped the general understanding of the importance of marine biodiversity and thereby supported our efforts to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. I welcome the EBSA process under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will facilitate the description of EBSAs through application of scientific criteria as well as other relevant information needed for the scientific description of EBSAs at the regional level and I hope this workshop will bring scientifically arguable messages on arctic EBSAs to COP12.
The new Finnish National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2012-2020 emphasizes the implementation of CBD Strategic Plan and its Aichi targets, and highlights that: ”Protecting coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, will be conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologicaly representative and well connected systems”.
In accordance with our own obligations in line with international conventions and commitments, and alongside the other Baltic Sea states, Finland’s aim is to establish an ecologically uniform, well-administered network of protected marine areas.
Ladies and gentlemen, the commitment made by States in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio in 2012, “The future we want”, addresses the urgent need to proceed with the issue of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, by among other things taking a decision on the development of an international instrument under United Nations Convention of Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). I see a potential for cooperation between CBD and UNCLOS with regard to establishment of protected areas beyond national jurisdiction, and the EBSA input is essential for this as well.
The General Assembly has consistently reaffirmed that UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and noted with satisfaction that, in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio.
My intention is to attend CBD COP-12 and I look forward to your outcome, I would like to wish you good luck in your deliberations and I thank you for your valuable work.