The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved the first funding related to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, an important milestone for ensuring the health and resilience of more than two-thirds of the world’s ocean ecosystems.
The US$700,000 approved by GEF CEO Carlos Manuel Rodríguez will support efforts in the Marshall Islands, Palau, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu related to the new agreement’s ratification and implementation readiness.
All GEF recipient countries that have signed or taken meaningful steps toward becoming a party to the BBNJ Agreement are eligible for support upon request.
The BBNJ Agreement, which was adopted in June 2023, promotes the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the global ocean area outside countries’ jurisdiction. Currently, the focus of GEF support is on country ratification towards the goal of the required 60 countries for the agreement to enter into force.
The 14 June approval came less than four months after the GEF Council approved initial guidelines for the Global Environment Facility’s expanded mandate as part of the financial mechanism of the BBNJ Agreement, including the use of resources from its eighth funding cycle.
The GEF is a financial mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
In total, the Council allocated US$34 million for ratification support and early action activities related to the BBNJ Agreement, to be programmed from the GEF Trust Fund’s international waters focal area. From this amount, US$29 million will be used for recipient countries’ ratification support and implementation readiness, and US$5 million for the development of a global and regional project to complement national-level funds for country assistance.
The initial tranche of GEF funding, which reflects a commitment to efficient and timely response to country needs, precedes the organisational meeting of the preparatory commission mandated to prepare for the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement and the convening of its first Conference of the Parties.
Three GEF agencies — FAO, UNDP, and UNEP — are facilitating access to GEF support to the BBNJ Agreement, which has been developed in close consultation with the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations (DOALOS) Secretariat, the interim secretariat for the agreement.
