Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) plans to enforce a halt to oil and gas extraction in protected areas. During a recent interview with “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland,” he announced that in the summer, he will present the core framework for a Baltic Sea Action Plan. This plan will include new initiatives focused on nature restoration, retrieving ghost nets, and reducing environmental pollutants.
The Minister believes that nature only recovers when people allow it to rest. Specifically, he stated that this means no new drilling towers for oil and gas extraction should be permitted in protected zones. He confirmed that a corresponding Cabinet resolution is currently before the Bundestag.
Schneider emphasized the urgent need for increased protection of the Baltic Sea, noting its deteriorating condition: “It is not doing well at all: too little salt, too few fish, too many nutrients.” He stressed that while the Baltic Sea should not simply remain a warming bathing pool, it must be restored as a functional ecosystem.
Furthermore, Schneider intends to move forward with the salvage of toxic old ordnance from the seas. He revealed that a bidding process is currently underway for a pilot facility designed to retrieve this munition. This setup aims to help recover hundreds of thousands of tons of abandoned ordnance from the North and Baltic Seas.
The Minister added that initiating this cleanup would allow Germany to make a significant contribution to global conservation efforts while simultaneously exporting expertise and advanced technologies. He described the old ordnance as a time bomb that must be brought to the surface and neutralized, pointing out that it is already leaking and its toxic compounds are already detectable in fish.
