The BalticSTERN Secretariat was established at the Stockholm Resilience Centre in September 2009, financed by the Swedish EPA (SEPA), and in December 2009 SEPA decided to finance the Secretariat for a further three year period; 2010 - 2012.

The Secretariat´s assignment is to lead and coordinate the network and to communicate the research. The Secretariat will, by 2012, based on research within the network and other relevant research, produce a synthesis assessment directed to decision makers. The aim of this report is to evaluate costs of necessary measures in order to reach certain environmental objectives as well as socioeconomic gains of reaching those objectives, assess the cost of inactions and critically analyze existing policy instruments and potentially suggest new instruments.

The Secretariat will also assist the Swedish EPA, by providing input to the newly established EU Working Group on Economic and Social Assessments (WG ESA), aimed at contributing to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Read more about the background for establishing the secretariat