Implemented
Under the measure, a national strategy for the prevention of and response to environmental damage extending to 2025 was prepared. This will help prepare for the prevention of oil and chemical spills and the effects of response measures on the environment. In 2023, the strategy was updated to extend until 2035 (Government Resolution SM/2023/9, http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-324-995-0).
In 2009, the Finnish Environment Institute carried out an extensive survey on the improvement in preparedness for oil disasters on the state and municipal levels for the years 2009–2018. The report was based on a report from the Government in 2009 on the challenges and politics of the Baltic Sea. The report included several measures to improve the preparedness in the prevention of environmental impacts. The comprehensive report was updated in 2015.
In line with the proposals of the updated study, a strategy for the further prevention of oil and chemical spills was prepared. Preparations for the programme were started in 2016. Expertise of the advisory board on the prevention of oil and chemical spills was used in the preparations.
In their performance audit report 2/2014 called “Management of and responsibilities for oil spills from vessels in the Gulf of Finland”, the National Audit Office of Finland made a recommendation that to support decision-making, the strategy should contain an estimate of the following: evaluate if responding to an oil spill of 30,000 tons is still a relevant target, an estimate of the costs of preparedness, a scenario of the total costs of possible oil spills, the cost-efficiency of different options as a base for investments, the factual preparedness of the neighbouring countries and the “bottleneck” of response. The National Audit Office of Finland gave a further recommendation that the national programme for preparedness in the prevention of oil spills should be developed by defining the importance of the protected targets and criteria for stopping the prevention. These recommendations will be acknowledged when drawing up the strategic programme for preparedness.
2016–2019
Ministry of the Environment
