On 26 August 2015, the NutriTrade project, initiated by the John Nurminen Foundation, received partial funding from the EU Interreg Central Baltic programme. The goal of the NutriTrade project is to promote the reduction of nutrient discharges in the Baltic Sea area with fast, efficient and economical means so that the targets set by HELCOM (Baltic Sea Action Plan, 2007) can be reached. The project is one of the flagship projects of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: these projects seek to reduce discharges significantly, and, as a consequence, promote the Baltic Sea’s restoration to a good ecological status.

The NutriTrade project will develop and pilot an application platform for implementing voluntary nutrient trading and offsetting nutrient discharges in the Baltic Sea area. The project will create new and innovative tools for reaching the reduction goals set for nutrient discharges, and also promote cost-efficient, international measures for reducing nutrient discharges in the catchment area of the Baltic Sea. The NutriTrade application platform will bring together efficient nutrient reduction measures and those voluntary financiers who wish to compensate their nutrient discharges and neutralise their nutrient footprint. After EU’s funding decision, the practical development of the application platform and the preparation of nutrient trade pilot activities can begin during autumn 2015.

The John Nurminen Foundation’s partners in the project are the National Resources Institute Finland, the University of Helsinki, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and the Sustainable Seas Initiative. The project’s total budget is €2.2 million.

Photo: Janne Gröning.