Nordic Council of Ministers

Mikael Remberger

The report Selected plasticisers and additional sweeteners in the Nordic Environment describes the findings of a Nordic environmental study. The study has been done as a screening, that is, it provides a snapshot of the occurrence of selected plasticisers and sweeteners, both in regions most likely to be polluted as well as in some very pristine environments. The plasticisers analysed were long chained phthalates and adipates, and the sweeteners analysed were aspartame, cyclamate and sucralose. The purpose of the screening was to elucidate levels and pathways of hitherto unrecognized pollutants. Thus the samples analysed were taken mainly from sewage lines, but also in recipients and biota, both in assumed hot-spot areas and in background areas.

Selected Plasticisers and Additional Sweeteners in the Nordic Environment

How can natural and cultural values be a resource for sustainable development? That is the question the Nordic Blue Parks project has tried to answer by providing case-studies of regional and local success stories, thereby assessing the possible synergistic effects of cross-sectoral working with both nature- and cultural heritage bodies. Nordic Blue Parks is a new concept that combines underwater nature and cultural trails in four Nordic countries, i.e. Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.The Nordic Blue Parks project has created an international forum to foster ties not only between the various groups working regionally on this project, but also to engender links between the general public and their own cultural and natural resources. Through this project both natural and cultural administrations from several Nordic countries have for the first time cooperated concerning the underwater environment. The Nordic Blue Parks project ably integrates components of sustainable development and provides new economic possibilities to develop local natural tourism, international cooperation, education and research, as well as cultural identity.

Nordic Blue Parks

Jørn Gry

Christer Andersson

Jakob Kristinsson

In some parts of the world mushrooms have had a central role in religious ritual ceremonies. Ethnomycological studies among the Indian tribes of Mexico - the Aztecs and the Chichimecas - revealed the mushrooms to be hallucinogenic. Chemists from a leading Pharmaceutical company took over, isolated and described the mushroom alkaloid psilocybin, that upon dephosphorylation after collection of the mushroom or in the human body, form psilocin that is the active hallucinogenic compound. For a long time psilocybin/psilocin was expected to become a constituent of psychedelic drugs useful for treatment of specific psychoses. As the effect of psilocybin/psilocin resembles that of LSD the isolated compound, as well as mushrooms containing the compound, became popular among recreational users of hallucinogenic drugs in Western America, and from there the habit of using these mushrooms have spread around the world. Psilocybin/psilocin is legally prohibited in many countries which usually treat the compound as a narcotic drug. Some countries also prohibit the use of some or all psilocybin-containing mushrooms. In this respect, the legal situation differs between Nordic countries. Although psilocybin-containing mushrooms are not what Nordic mushroom pickers are trying to find as food or food supplement, there is a risk, admittedly small, that these mushrooms accidentally will be collected. At the present situation, this may be a legal problem in some Nordic countries. This document aims at identifying when this might be the case without going into legal interpretations.

Occurrence and Use of Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Containing Psilocybin Alkaloids

Bo Normander

The Nordic countries have agreed on a common target to halt the decline in biodiversity by 2010. This report aims at evaluating the 2010-target by presenting indicators that can describe trends in biodiversity in the Nordic countries. Our results comprise the most comprehensive documentation of land use in the Nordic countries to date. The area of important nature types such as mire, grassland and heathland have decreased significantly over the past one to two decades, whereas the area of constructed habitats, including city areas and transport networks, has grown considerably in all of the Nordic countries. Each of these trends in land use will cause biodiversity to decline. Looking into the quality aspect of biodiversity, our results reveal that two-thirds of the quality indicators presented show declines and the remaining one-third show improvements (or steady-state). Overall, our results indicate that biodiversity has declined in the Nordic countries since 1990. In particular, farmland, mire, grassland and heathland habitats show declines in biodiversity, but also the remaining habitats show negative trends. Therefore, based on the findings from this study, we conclude that it is highly unlikely that the target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 can be achieved by the Nordic countries. Our results should be perceived as a first attempt to make an overall assessment of biodiversity in the Nordic countries. We believe that if further efforts were directed towards scrutinising existing and historic monitoring programmes and data sources, additional indicators could be calculated and hence a better knowledge base would be achieved.

State of biodiversity in the Nordic countries

Ligestilling i skolen

Kuluttajakompetenssien oppiminen – kuluttajakasvatuksen strategia

Nordic Economic Policy Review

Maria Dam

Marine mammals hold a special position in the hearts of people inhabiting Nordic Arctic areas and in coastal communities around the North Atlantic Ocean as they are an essential part of the diet and traditional life-style. However, marine mammals are in a particularly vulnerable position as regards environmental pollutants, because of the large fat stores in their bodies which serve as a "magnet" to a large number of persistent and toxic pollutants. A Nordic Council of Ministers supported collaboration between Norway, Denmark/Greenland, Faroe Island, Iceland and Sweden set out to look for possible trends in "new" contaminants in marine mammals in Nordic Arctic waters. The "new" contaminants in focus are the brominated flame retardants including the PBDEs, methoxylated PBDEs, perfluorinated compounds including the PFOS family, and polychlorinated naphthalenes. In addition, a subset of the samples was analysed for brominated dioxins and dibenzofurans. The marine mammals studied were fin whale, minke whale, pilot whale, white-sided dolphins, harbour porpoise, ringed seal and hooded seal. The study aims at giving a wide scope of the presence of these "new" contaminants in marine mammals in recent time and going back to the 1980s using samples from specimen banks.

New POPs in Marine Mammals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic Areas During Three Decades

The use of economic instruments in Nordic environmental policy.

– Principles and Methodology

Product Life Cycle Assessment

David N. Barton

The emergence of the ecosystem services concept suggests that economic valuation studies are already fulfilling a role in raising awareness by demonstrating the loss of nature's goods and services using monetary indicators. In order to have future relevance in capturing value and giving support to policy-makers, valuation methods must specifically address resource accounting, priority setting, and instrument design. This report provides an overview of economic valuation methods of ecosystem services from watersheds in the Nordic countries. The study was commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers and conducted by The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, The Norwegian Institute of Water Research and Sweco Norge during the period May - November 2011. The study indicates that economic valuation methods can be applied to watershed management in multiple ways. However, policy makers should be wary of "one size fits all" valuation estimates that appear ready to use across different watershed types and stakeholder interests.

Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Nordic Watersheds

The Linking Directive and the Potential for Joint Implementation in the Baltic Sea Region

Risk Assessment of Caffeine Among Children and Adolescents in the Nordic Countries

Trykt & udgivet

Anne S. Kaslegard

Klimaendringer og kulturarv i Norden

Gitte Alsing Pedersen

In-house control and the documentation of it is the basis for the assurance of compliance with legislation, in the food area and in the area of food contact materials (FCM). Safe use of FCM is a complicated area, in general, and specifically the use of printing inks and the critical points in the printing process. One of the goals for this check list is to contribute to the development of more uniform control and requirements for in-house control. Printing inks used in FCM are regulated by these general requirements and some uses are addressed more specifically , and as there is no specific legislation in the area in EU yet. In-house documentation is based on the assumption, that each link in the supply chain ensures compliance. The check lists set a frame with minimum requirements to all relevant links in the supply chain from producers to food industry and trade. The check lists are guidance to industry and trade in order to ensure compliance with the requirements in the FCM.

Nordic Council of Ministers

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