Environment and Energy: The Baltic Sea Gas Pipeline

Abstract

Germany and Russia have agreed to build the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The 1,200 kilometers-long structure will run from Vyborg, Russia to Greifswald, Germany traversing the Baltic Sea. The Baltic countries, Finland, Poland and Sweden, have expressed concerns about the project. At issue is the environmental impact of the project as well as the energy, political, and socioeconomic implications.

Keywords:

• Environment
• energy
• Baltic Sea pipeline
• Baltic countries
• European Union
• Russia

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Erratum

Acknowledgements

This article grew out of a research paper and a chapter of my master's thesis. My profound thanks to Christine Ingebritsen, Vladimir Kaczynski, Guntis Smidchens and Nathaniel Trumbull. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Notes

Note

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3.  Gazprom (2005b); see also Anna Shiryaevskaya and Nadia Rodova (2005).

4.  HELCOM, ‘Helcom Executive Secretary Anne Christine Brusendorff Interview with Deutsche Welle Radio on WWII Chemical Munitions Dumped in the Baltic Sea’, News, available at: http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/Interview.11156, accessed 13 March 2006.

5.  HELCOM, ‘Statistics Shows Significant Drop in the Number of Incidents of Chemical Munitions Caught by Fishermen in the Baltic Sea’, News, 2 May 2005, available at: http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/ChemicalMunitions1115039886140, accessed 15 May 2007.

6.  Ibid.

7.  HELCOM, Fisheries, available at: http://www.helcom,fi/environment/assessment/fish/en_GB/fisheries, accessed 28 May 2007.

8.  United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982–overview and full text (UNCLOS), last updated 16 March 2006, available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos_e.pdf, Part II, Section 2, Articles 3–5, accessed 26 April 2006.

9.  Ibid., Part VII, Section 1, Article 87.

10.  Ibid., Part V, Article 57; see also HELCOM (2000, p. 1).

11.  UNCLOS, Part V, Article 58.

12.  Ibid.

13.  Ibid., Article 59.

14.  Ibid., Article 60.

15.  Ibid., Part IX, Article 123 (b) and (d).

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