Pursuant to article 52 of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund is included as part of the financial mechanism for the provision of adequate, accessible, new and additional and predictable financial resources under the Agreement.
In response to its inclusion as part of the financial mechanism under the BBNJ Agreement, the GEF Council authorized the use of up to $34 million from the GEF-8 replenishment (July 2022 - June 2026) for the funding of ratification support and early action activities for the BBNJ Agreement (). In February 2024, the GEF Council approved the ().
The GEF Secretariat has identified three GEF Agencies to support GEF-eligible countries to access BBNJ Agreement ratification support and early action funding - the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This is being done in close coordination with the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations (DOALOS) which performs the secretariat functions in relation to the Agreement.
DOALOS and the GEF Secretariat are working closely to ensure coordination of efforts and the efficient use of resources by avoiding gaps and duplications in the delivery of assistance. In this regard, DOALOS and the GEF Secretariat have conducted an initial survey of capacity-building and technical assistance needs, including with regard to making progress towards signature and ratification, approval, acceptance or accession, to inform the development of future assistance in support of becoming parties to the Agreement and fostering readiness to implementing it. The compilation of results of the initial survey is available here.