An Economic Analysis of Transparency Improvement in the Baltic Proper, Baltic Sea

Abstract: The Baltic Sea is the one of the most studied seas area in the world and it is severely affected by human activities where eutrophication is the overall environmental problem. Although there is an international agreement that nutrient input to the Baltic should be reduced, the measures taken so far have not resulted in major reductions in nutrient inputs nor in environmental improvements. Sewage reduction is the most important factor for transparency improvement of the Baltic Proper and wetland restoration and change of N spreading time have no effective role in this aspect. Within the Baltic area, establishment of sewage treatment technology in Russia and Poland is more cost-effective than it would be in Sweden. Without this measure transparency improvement would be expensive. In Sweden NOx reduction is most cost-effective measure for transparency improvement in the Baltic Proper and without this measure the total cost would be ~ 58.5 million euro.