The economic value of coastal waters as nutrient filters for the Baltic Sea

This paper calculates the economic value of coastal zones as nutrient filters by using the replacement cost method, which implies that the value is calculated as the savings in costs from reaching politically determined future nutrient target. It is shown that the magnitude of this value depends on the cost of other abatement measures besides nutrient filters of coastal zones, the stringency and timing of the nutrient target, discount rate, and spatial and temporal dispersions of cleaning impacts. The application to the Baltic Sea indicates that the value can amount to approximately 600 billions of SEK (1 Euro = 9.01 SEK, June 3, 2012), which corresponds to 1.9 % of the Baltic Sea region’s total gross domestic product. The largest gains are obtained by Poland because this country faces the largest financial burdens of meeting targets.