HELCOM says global and regional environmental matters will be in focus during the XIX International Environmental Forum "Baltic Sea Day", to be held on 22–23 March 2018 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The agenda of the Forum, based on proposals to be developed by key stakeholders, will reflect the latest issues concerning the Baltic Sea environment and current regional activities, including involvement of municipalities, assuring good environmental status of the Sea and environmental safety in the region. Discussion themes of plenaries and roundtables will include the outcome of the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, to be held in Brussels two weeks earlier, on 6 March. The upcoming 19th Baltic Sea Day Forum will be devoted to the memory of Mr. Leonid Korovin, who passed away in 2017.
Baltic Sea Day is an esteemed platform for environmental dialogue and a popular live meeting point for representatives of national, regional as well as global organizations working in different sectors. The Forum is the largest event of its kind in the Baltic Sea region, gathering more than 600 participants and broadly reflected in Russian national and international media. The next Forum is organized and supported by HELCOM, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and the Government of St. Petersburg.
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the 'Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area', more commonly known as the Helsinki Convention.