History

BalticSea2020 was founded by Mr, Björn Carlson through a private donation of bc
500 million SEK. The assets shall finance projects that are daring, innovative and can contribute to improve the knowledge of the Baltic Sea. The foundations capital shall be used continuously until 2020, hence the name of the foundation.

Since the foundation started its work in 2006 the board has granted more than 175 million SEK to projects within Eutrophication, Fishery, Living Coastal Zone and Opinion and Film. In total the foundation has initiated 60 projects of which 20 are currently ongoing.

Our vision and program statement

BalticSea2020 has one overarching goal: In the year 2020, when the foundations money is spent, it has hopefully contributed to turn around the environmental trend of the Baltic Sea. Because it is necessary. Otherwise the quality of life for 90 million citizens, who live in the region, will drastically deteriorate. It can be done. This is the belief of BalticSea2020´s founder, Mr Björn Carlson. He wants to use his donation to create a strong organization that is capable of bypassing politics and bureaucracy, to step in quickly and make sure that decisions are made and initiatives, that have a positive impact on the Baltic Sea, are implemented.

A lot has already been done. Since BalticSea2020 started its work the foundation has been part in influencing the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated more than fifteen projects for a cleaner and healthier Baltic Sea, and supported the execution and publication of more than twenty scientific projects. BalticSea2020 has also produced two price winning TV-documentaries (For Cod´s Sake and Dirty Waters) that has been broadcasted in 12 countries so far.

Fisheries
One of the most cost effective measures for the Baltic Sea environment is to restore a sustainable cod stock. BalticSea2020 has since 2008 tried to ensure that politicians and decision makers follow ICES scientific advice for the eastern cod stock in the Baltic Sea. This work will continue over the coming years.

The foundation has spent ample resources and energy on influencing the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to ensure a large, well managed cod stock and an economically viable and sustainable fishery in the Baltic.

A larger cod stock will contribute to improving the Baltic marine environment by reducing sprat and increasing the amounts of zooplankton which, in turn, leads to less algae. In 2010 BalticSea2020 organized a three-day workshop with 16 scientists from various Baltic Sea countries which confirmed the significance of cod in the Baltic Sea ecosystem and the link between cod stocks and excessive amounts of algae. Efforts to influence of the elaboration of the CFP focuses on four key messages: the role of cod in the ecosystem, regionalization, the abolishment of subsidies and fisheries management (such as a ban on discards). These positions also form the base of our work in several related processes such as the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea.

Other ongoing fisheries-related projects are ” Wetland restoraton for viable predatory fish stocks” which aims to strengthen stocks of pike and perch in the coastal zone. ”Mitigating Eutrophication by Biomanipulation”   is aimed at establishing whether the release of 900 000 pike perch smolt in Himmerfjärden south of Stockholm will lead to fewer algae inshore, in a similar way that more cod result in fewer algae in the open Baltic Sea. In 2010 an initiative was taken to introduce MSC-labeled fish in the region. It is a three year joint project between BalticSea2020, The Swedish Postcode Lottery and MSC. The project aims to help consumers buy legally caught fish from sustainable and well-managed stocks.

Eutrophication
Several of the early scientific projects in the area of eutrophication have helped develop and shape the foundation's position both with regard to eutrophication and related issues. A seminar "Nitrogen Fertilization of forests" with the Swedish Forest Agency looked at the amount of nutrients leaching from fertilizing. A workshop series “Ecological Engineering" examined whether it is possible to mechanically oxygenate the open sea, the workshop concluded that it is not a viable measure. In 2009 two projects were started with the aim to capture phosphorus and nitrogen on land and in the sea. "Farming blue mussels as an environmental measure” aims to develop mussel farms as a cost-effective measure to improve coastal water quality in the Baltic Sea, and "Mitigation measures to reduce Phosphorus leakage from arable land", aimed at determine the potential for phosphorous reduction and cost-effectiveness of introducing ditch dams and filters in agricultural practices in the region. Literature studies show that nearly 30-40% of leaching from farm land could be prevented by using this method. The project recently concluded that the potential is even higher (up to 60 percent) than was previously believed.

In late 2009, the foundation highlighted the problem of nitrogen and phosphorus leaching from large scale industrial pig-farms, and continued to identify concrete measures to cope with large amounts of manure. The report "Best Practice Manure Handling" identified the production of biogas through anaerobic digestion, separation technologies and active phosphorus management as three practices with great potential to reduce nutrient leaching. The report laid the foundation for a ten-year program which aims to reduce the negative impact on the Baltic Sea from intensive livestock production. The aim of the program is to establish knowledge of cost-effective technologies, build a demonstration facility and to disseminate knowledge in the region. Furthermore, the recommendations from the reports allowed BalticSea2020 to develop amendments to the EU directives governing manure management.

In late 2010 a large research project was initiated in collaboration with Signhild Engkvist’s Foundation "Thiamine deficiency in mussels and eider in the Baltic Sea”. It is a three-year study to try to determine the causes to the increased mortality and failed reproduction of seabirds, primarily Eider. And in 2011 an even larger research program was started on metegenomic analyses of all microbes in the Baltic Sea. The program is collaboration with the world-leading research group led by Craig Venter at the J. Craig Venter Institute (USA). The MiMeBS program aims to inventory microbial communities in the Baltic Sea. Waters from Torne Träsk to Oslo Fjord will be analyzed with a focus on the re-occurring massive surface ‘blooms’ of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) using powerful metagenomic sequencing.

A living coastal zone
In autumn 2010 BalticSea2020 initiated a large coastal zone project in the Swedish archipelago. The project goal is to introduce known measures - both on land and in water, in order to improve water transparency, reduce the growth of algae and enhance fish fauna in a limited but representative coastal area. Through this project, BalticSea2020 hopes to show that it is possible to improve the quality of water and improve the ecological, aesthetic and recreational experience in coastal communities. The final step is to create a "white paper" on how damaged coastal areas can be restored and provide an estimate of the costs for doing so. The project will begin in spring 2011 and is expected to run at least 5 years.

Opinion and film
The foundation works actively to spread information about the Baltic Sea and its challenges to the general public, schools, policy makers and politicians. Our main commitment is to a decade-long film project with Folke Rydén and Mattias Klum. The aim of the project is to “in an innovative way raise awareness among the 90 million people living around the Baltic Sea on the threats and opportunities that the sea faces”. The first documentary “For Cods Sake” has been broadcasted in 9 countries around the Baltic Sea, and also in France, Norway and Canada. In addition, a interactive website and educational materials has been published and made available to everyone at (www.saveourbalticsea.org).

The second documentary, which shows the effects of industrial scale animal farms “Dirty waters”, made its first public broadcast during the summer of 2011. Throughout 2011, the foundation will ensure the dissemination of the documentaries and educational materials in high schools, initially in Sweden and thereafter throughout the region. In early 2010 another film project was started under the supervision of filmmaker and musician Joakim Odelberg. He has documented the amount, and effects, of ghost nets in the Baltic Sea. The film “Ghosts in the Baltic Sea” will be broadcasted during fall 2011.

Grants and asset management
BalticSea2020 has a conservative investment policy. During 2006 and mid 2007 approx. 60% of the Foundations capital was invested in equity funds and 40 percent in fixed-income investments. From August 2007 to April 2009 almost the entire capital was invested in fixed income securities. In April 2009 BalticSea2020 started to re-invest in equities and from May 2010, approximately 80 percent of the fund's assets had been invested in equities and about 20% in fixed income securities. The assets have increased from 500 million SEK to 600 million SEK in the first five years. During that time the foundation has paid grants and had internal cost summing up to around 200 million SEK.