Focus: Denmark marine environmental protection
While the world watches and waits for their leaders deal their way towards a working agreement on the future of the environment. Denmark has the opportunity to present the history and development of its own achievements in the fields of clean tech and environmental stewardship.
Denmark has always came across to me as a modern civilized society who by and large, has a profound respect of nature and understand the complexities of our relationship towards it. According to polls, Danes live in one of the top ten happiest places in the world. This is the same place that has one of the best cycling infrastructure, social service and of course, cleanest air.
So how does Denmark govern its Marine environmental protection? An online search reveals the existence of The Helsinski Commission. Which governs the national geographical boundaries of the Baltic Sea region. A most impressive organization.
Take note of some of its highlighted achievements over 30 years.
- Lower discharges of organic pollutants and nutrients from point-sources.
- A 20-25% overall reduction in the emissions of oxygen-consuming substances (BOD) from the 132 originally identified hot spots since the early 1990s, with about 50 hot spots deleted from the list.
- Fewer beaches closed for bathing, thanks to improvements in the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater.
- Significant reductions in atmospheric nitrogen deposition.
- Dramatic reductions in emissions of organo-halogen compounds such as toxic dioxins and furans.
- National regulations banning hazardous substances like PCB and DDT.
- Stricter controls on industry (permits are now compulsory for industrial emissions).
- Improved joint monitoring of the state of the marine environment.
- The recovery of seal and white-tailed eagle populations.
- Better special legislation to prevent the pollution of the Baltic Sea by shipping, developed together with the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
- Measures to eliminate all illegal discharges by ships into the Baltic Sea.
- A major international plan to combat marine pollution, with active co-operation involving all the Contracting Parties through HELCOM.
Where will China’s marine environment be in 30 years? With its current the scale of pollution so much higher and its socio/political will much to be accounted for. Will Chinese citizens take up the mantle beyond a NIMBY protest of incinerators? Now that President Obama has signaled his intention to visit the Copenhagen when the summit’s end draws near, will the Chinese not pledge more than ‘a notable margin’?