Climate Change

Modernization, innovation and adaptation!

OUR GOAL: Become a low carbon and climate adapted region

Climate change is perhaps the most pressing environmental issue in the world today. The effects of climate change are already being seen — in the Baltic Sea Region and in the world. Many regions have made cutting greenhouse gas emissions their main environmental priority. Baltic 21 battles climate change by modernizing outdated practices that cause needless emissions, promoting bio-energy production as well as adapting the Baltic Sea Region to climate change. The Baltic Sea Region has a large potential for innovations in renewable energy by using the sea, wind and biomass. We have made it our mission to find the most innovative and positive practices within bioenergy and to spread these ideas so that both emissions and costs can be saved. We facilitate cuts of emissions by finding, developing and promoting new climate-smart solutions agriculture and forestry. But regardless of how well the world manages to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, some climate change is inevitable. Therefore, it is important for us to also study and analyse imminent consequences of a changing climate in the Baltic Sea Region. We develop a strategy for how to adapt.

OUR ACTIONS:

• Spreading climate-smart solutions in agriculture and forestry;
• Promoting bioenergy – Final policy recommendations
• Developing a new climate change adaption strategy for the whole Baltic Sea Region

BaltAdapt

BaltAdapt has prepared the proposal for a BSR wide Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan. Baltadapt is a flagship project in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSBSR under EUSBSR Horizontal Action Sustainable development. It facilitated the action “Climate change adaptation”. The project had 11 partners from Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany and Finland. The project was approved for funding in the 3rd call of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 and ran until autumn 2013. The final project conference took place 3 – 4 September 2013 in Riga, Latvia were the proposal documents were officially handed over to the BSR member states and the responisble EUSBSR HAL Sustainable Development, CBSS-Baltic 21. Thus on emain milestone in the implementation of one of the sub-objectives in the EUSBSR has been achieved. EUSBSR Horizontal Action Leader Sustainable Development in close cooperation with the members of the CBSS-Expert group on Sustianable Development and Steering Group to the Action are responsible to facilitate the further development and monitoring of the document until final endoresement by member states. More information on the project, including its final results can be found at the project website www.baltadapt.eu and at the right hand menue. Lead Partner was the Danish Meteorological Institute. BSR FORUM on CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION Baltic 21 was fully fledged partner in the Baltadapt project, mainly involved in the development of the policy document of a macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy for the Baltic Sea Region as called for in the Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSBSR. Related to this CBSS-Baltic 21 realised three so called Policy Fora on Climate Change Adaptation. The Policy Forum is a working platform for the development of the macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy. It provides guidance and recommendations in an open and constructive multi-level dialogue on the structure and content of the future strategy document. It involved high level policy makers from across the Baltic Sea Region, representatives of the European Commission, international and regional organisations as well as research institutions, sub-regional and city networks. Overview on the Policy Fora on Climate Change Adaptation in the Baltic Sea Region, implemented so far 1st Policy Forum 24th April 2012 in Berlin, Germany 2nd Policy Forum, 10 – 11 December 2012, Stockholm, Sweden 3rd Policy Forum, 29 – 30 May 2013 in Tallinn, Estonia The Policy Forum on Climate Change Adaptation in the Baltic Sea Region will be continued under the lead of CBSS-Baltic 21 as EUSBSR Horizontal Action Leader Sustainable Development under Action “Climate Change Adaptation”. Contact Ms Maxi Nachtigall Adviser Sustainable Development, CBSS-Baltic 21 EUSBSR HAL Sustainable Development Phone: +46 8 440 1937 Email: maxi.nachtigall@cbss.org  

Bioenergy Promotion I & II

The project aims to strengthen the development towards a sustainable, competitive and territorially integrated Baltic Sea Region in the field of sustainable use of bioenergy. The project is intended to serve as a major Baltic Sea Region-wide platform for:

• Cross-sectoral and transnational networking to facilitate information and knowledge exchange
• Coordinating policy development
• Designing the application instruments to promote bioenergy
• Creating a platform for regional development

The project is acknowledged as a strategic project by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 Monitoring Committee. The proposal has been designed in co-operation with BASREC. The Baltic Sea Bioenergy Promotion Project run during 2009-2011. The project is a platform for cross-sectoral and transnational networking to facilitate information and knowledge exchange, a coordinated policy development and application of bio-energy promotion instruments. The project has held several workshops and conferences focused on sustainability criteria for the production and use of biomass, national renewable energy action plans, certification systems, etc. the regional business/industry assessment report was finalised in November 2009. BSR country policy assessments were conducted. In addition, the Virtual Brokerage Platform has been constructed. The Extension Stage Project – Bioenergy Promotion 2 The overall objective of the Extension Stage is to implement key final results of the Main Stage via demonstration, testing and transfer activities. Bioenergy Promotion 2 strives to promote sustainability on transnational and national strategic policy level and in (sub) regional planning and implementation processes, addressing administration, authorities and utility companies. The benefit will be that increased use of sustainable bioenergy contributes to reduced GHG emissions. Promoting sustainability will be beneficial to biodiversity and also to challenges such as efficient use of water, soil quality, energy efficiency in bioenergy production cycles, and economic and social issues. The overall objective of the Extension Stage is to implement key final results of the Main Stage via demonstration, testing and transfer activities. In order to achieve this, a Virtual Bioenergy Promotion Support Secretariat€ will be established with the following tasks:

• Assist/advise demo regions in capacity development, implementing their bioenergy strategies and promoting transfer to other regions and municipalities in the BSR.
• Establish links to public and private utility companies in order to promote validation and testing of the sustainability principles and criteria developed during the MSP.
• Feed MSP results into policy formulation processes on a macro-regional and transnational level within and beyond the BSR.
• Feed MSP project results into EU funding programmes

The extension phase runs from October 2011 to January 2014. The project is a flagship under EUSBSR Horizontal Action Sustainable Development & Bio-econonomy co-coordinated by CBSS-Baltic 21 and the Nordic Council of Ministers.   The Bioenergy Roundtables A key activity within Bioenergy Promotion is to carry out a Roundtable in cooperation with Baltic 21, CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Development and the relevant Expert Group within  the Nordic Council of Ministers, NCM. The first Bioenergy Roundtable was arranged in conjunction with the 6th meeting of the Expert Group on 20-21 November 2012 in Stockholm. The 2nd round table is planned to take place during the 4th EUSBSR Annual Forum in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Bioenergy Roundtable aims at creating a dialogue between the Bioenergy Promotion project and the Baltic 21, CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Development about how to move the development and dissemination of bioenergy systems forward in the Baltic Sea Region. The Bioenergy Promotion project presented recommendations based on findings and conclusions from Bioenergy Promotion (2009-2011) and from Bioenergy Promotion 2. Project web site: www.bioenergypromotion.net Contact: Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. OT Gülzow Hofplatz 1 DE-18276 Gülzow-Prüzen Germany Ms Aino Martikainen E-mail: a.martikainen@fnr.de Phone: +49 (0)38430 166