Opportunities and Challenges for SIDS to Shape and Advance the BBNJ Agreement’s Funding Through and Beyond its Financial Mechanism (Information Paper)

Publication Details

Executive Summary

The conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction will be costly. Such costs, coupled with the funding gap for Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Life Below Water,” and the increasing uncertainty on sources and destination of funding highlight the critical importance of understanding how the BBNJ Agreement will be funded. The BBNJ Agreement establishes a financial mechanism to support its implementation, particularly for developing states, through a Special Fund and other funding vehicles. This mechanism, while innovative, faces several challenges. There are concerns about securing long-term funding for monitoring and enforcement activities, as well as the lack of clarity on financing infrastructure and data management systems. Questions remain about how to prevent duplication and ensure complementarity between the Special Fund and the GEF Trust Fund, and how to determine the basis of need for funding access. Governance issues, such as the Special Fund’s institutional arrangements and the relationship between the GEF Trust Fund and the Finance Committee, also need to be addressed.

The design of the Special Fund within the BBNJ Agreement’s financial mechanism is critical for ensuring equitable access to resources. The Special Fund aims to provide financial support that is more responsive to the unique needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other states reliant on marine resources. It seeks to address historical imbalances by ensuring fair participation and benefits for developing countries. However, to achieve this, the Special Fund’s governing body must have sufficient SIDS representation, and the modalities for accessing finance should be friendly to capacity-constrained states. Careful attention to the Special Fund’s structure and operational efficiency is essential, including clarifying its relationship with the ABS mechanism and ensuring effective coordination with other committees and the Scientific and Technical Body.

To ensure the BBNJ Agreement’s financial mechanism effectively serves the implementation needs of SIDS and other developing countries, several recommendations are crucial. It is essential to ensure progress on the establishment and terms of reference of all subsidiary bodies, prioritize SIDS representation in these bodies, and establish a strong, collaborative framework within the GEF-BBNJ MoU. Efforts should focus on mobilizing financial resources, securing predictable funding, and providing targeted capacity-building and technical support to SIDS. Furthermore, it is vital to champion transparency and accountability, address the long-term operational costs of EIAs and ABMTs, and promote coherence and collaboration with other MEAs and international institutions.