What do you think is standing in the way

of a clean Black Sea?

Today we have a large number of reasons why the issue of protecting the Black
Sea from pollution has become acute. Most of the garbage enters the Black Sea
from the rivers flowing into it into which, in turn, the garbage enters as a result of
non-adherence to standards for dumping, cleaning, filtering waste by enterprises
what together with the excessive use of fertilizers by farmers what causes the
formation of zones with a low oxygen content, which in turn causes the extinction
of crabs, sturgeon and other species living in the Black Sea. Since the Black Sea
region is an important article of the economy due to the active development of
tourism, and the development of bio-geo resources, which, in turn, together with
shipping, bring income not only to companies using the economic potential of the
sea, but also to the state budgets of the countries of the coastal Black Sea then the
issue of the threat to bio development, as well as the threat to the safety of shipping
and human health in resort areas, becomes quite important. In turn, the coastal
countries of the Black Sea have ratified the Convention on the Protection of the
Black Sea Against Pollution (Bucharest Convention), thus taking the first steps to
reduce the level of pollution in the Black Sea.
Is the environmental situation of the Black Sea bad? What are the biggest
pollutants? How can the situation be improved? Biologists, chemists and
hydrologysts have conducted the first-ever large-scale survey of Black Sea ecology
at the territorial waters of Ukraine and Georgia using modern EU methodology and
equipment and are now sharing their findings with the public. “The water quality
of the Black Sea is not perfect. Near big coastal cities, authorities recommend
people refrain from swimming for five days after heavy rains because significant
rainfall carries many pollutants, including oil products, from the city to the sea,”
says Viktor Komorin, director of the Ukrainian Scientific Centre of Ecology of the
Sea. But he assures that the situation is not as dire for humans as it may sound.
Pollution primarily endangers the ecosystem itself. Marine organisms live
constantly in the sea, accumulating dangerous amounts of harmful substances.
“You won’t get sick after swimming in the Black Sea,” reassures marine biologist
Eugen Dykyi. He sees another problem: Our latest research revealed toxic
substances in fish and mollusks. So far, we are safe only because our bodies are
big enough not to accumulate a critical amount of toxins from eating fish. But if
you regularly eat Black Sea fish, you will start accumulating these toxins. Another
problem is that no one conducts comprehensive monitoring of the sea in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian sanitarian and epidemic service uses methodology from the 1940s
and checks only levels of E.coli and cholera bacteria. In contrast, EU countries use
comprehensive methods to monitor more than 2000 pollutants in the water. Last
year we started implementing these methods in Ukraine for the first time. In spring
2016, a team of Ukrainian, Georgian and EU scientists set sail on the multipurpose
research vessel, Mare Nigrum, to perform an environmental survey of the Black
Sea using modern techniques and equipment. This expedition was made possible
by the EU-UNDP EMBLAS II project on Improving Environmental Monitoring in
the Black Sea, which has a total budget of €2.7 million, and did not cost Ukraine a
dime. The results of the survey show that 73% of the Black Sea waters meets the
criteria for “good environmentalstatus,” while 27% is in poor condition. In
addition to oil products, the Black Sea is also polluted with pharmaceutical and
cosmetic products, as well as the excessive enrichment of organic nutrients
(nitrates and phosphates). Dykyi explains: Too much organic nutrients cause
marine blooms, a rapid increase in the algae population. This is harmful for fish,
because a massive algae population uses a huge amount of oxygen when
decomposing. Fish simply suffocate and die. Our research revealed that most
pollution gets into the Black Sea with large rivers, such as the Danube River. This
means that countries along the Danube should make more of an effort to reduce
their emissions of nitrates and phosphates into the river. But to be more precise and
detect where exactly the pollution originates, we need to monitor the rivers and the
Sea further. We plan to do this research in the future. Jaroslav Slobodnik, team
leader of the EMBLAS II project, says that the quality of the Danube River is
improving: Within the last decade, the EU has invested €13 billion to reduce
pollution in the Danube River. I would dare say that it is thanks to these
investments that the environmental situation of the Black Sea is improving. To
help improve the health of the Black Sea, Komorin says Ukraine should implement
two EU directives: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Water
Framework Directive. These directives provide instruments to improve the marine
and riverine environment: how to monitor current environmental status, desirable
environmental standards and how to achieve them, and methods for monitoring the
results of such efforts. These are innovative directives. Old Ukrainian legislation
focused on specific pollutants and how to reduce them. These directives go one
step further, focusing on the ecosystem as a whole and its biodiversity, with the
goals of ensuring all elements of the marine food chains are present in normal
quantities, and controlling concentrations of pollutants below toxic levels. This
approach takes into account that each sea has its own unique indicators of a healthy
ecosystem. Ukraine will implement the two EU directives in the context of the EU-
Ukraine Association Agreement. The results of the EMBLAS II project are
expected to be incorporated into future Marine Strategy which will become a part
of national water legislation following modern EU environmental approaches,
which will result in better health for the Black Sea. But for everyday Ukrainians,
there is no need to wait for the EU directives’ implementation to start taking care
of the environment. Big things start with small steps: do not litter, recycle plastic,
and clean up beaches [1]. In order to regulate the ecological situation Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine liquidated State Azov Marine Ecological Inspection and State
Ecological Inspection of the Crimean-Black Sea District. "They were created to
strengthen environmental controls at ports. Unfortunately, the pilot project yielded
the opposite result. Instead of proper scrutiny, the state has received numerous
complaints from international carriers and shipowners. In fact, these bodies have
completely brought discredit upon themselves," Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy
Honcharuk noted. The powers of these bodies were delegated to the relevant
territorial departments of the State Environmental Inspectorate. Moreover, from
now on, every detention of the vessel should be authorized exclusively by the head
of the State Environmental Inspectorate. Approval of a decision will increase the
efficiency of the State Environmental Inspectorate and reduce the pressure on the
business environment [2]. Ukraine is experiencing a long sequence of corruption
scandals, personal attacks on activists, attempts to replace management at strategic
state-owned enterprises and strong rebound against market liberalization and
environmental protection reforms. Since March, after abrupt reshuffling of the
government, Ukraine is in fact, piece by piece, losing control over its economy and
infrastructure to oligarchs and Russian proxies. Such critical components of
European Green Deal as energy efficiency, renewables and pollution control
measures, which showed only the first sparks in Ukraine, are being practically
extinguished by the actions of the new government and administration of president
Zelensky [3].
References
1. https://euukrainecoop.com/2017/04/23/black-sea/
2. https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/uryad-likviduvav-neefektivni-morski-
inspekciyi
3. https://ua.boell.org/en/2020/09/29/european-green-deal-and-contest-against-
corruption-what-stake-ukraine
4.