Projects

As of 2021, The Sargasso Sea Commission has been awarded funding from two major grants, which will assist the Commission in implementing our work programme. 

Please visit the links in the prokect section to find out more about each project.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The first grant comes from the Global Environment Facility and was approved in June 2020. This programme is entitled "Common Oceans - Sustainable utilsation and conservation of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction," which includes the Sargasso Sea "child project." 

The executing agency for this project is the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (IOC-UNESCO). IOC will work closely with stakeholders for the prokect, including UNDP, the Sargasso Sea Commission and its Signatory Governments, GEF-eligible beneficiary countries, and other partners, including the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, the Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, the Imperial College London Centre for Environmental Policy, the University of Edinburgh, the World Maritime University, and the French Global Environment Facility. 

 This project will grant $3 million to the Sargasso Sea Commission over four years. The overall objective is to facilitate a collaborative, cross-sectoral, and sustainable stewardship mechanism for the Sargasso Sea through improvement of hte knowledge base and strengthened frameworks for collaborative management and governance.

 Fonds français pour l'environnement mondial (FFEM)

 The second grant comes from the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM). The Sargasso Sea Commission will recieve €961,000 from the grant over five years. This is a joint project, engaging the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic, and the Thermal Dome in the Pacific. 

The objective of the project is to contribute to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the high seas on the Thermal Dome and the Sargasso Sea. It will incorporate and contribute to the elements of the UN negotiations on BBNJ by informing on possible implementation models for regional and international/global coordination, consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements and as part of a strategy based on an ecosystem approach.