The governments of Bermuda and the UK have announced a joint initiative seeking protection of the Sargasso Sea under the High Seas Treaty.

The treaty, referred to as the Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, came into force in January and is viewed as critical to protecting areas of the ocean outside of national waters.

International support for the Hamilton Declaration II is the goal of the initiative, building on the Hamilton Declaration, signed by Bermuda in 2014 and drawn up before the BBNJ was formalised.

Government House released a statement speaking to the declaration, which is still a draft text, acknowledging the global importance of conserving the Sargasso Sea.

The draft has been circulated to all United Nations member states, as well as all signatories to the original Hamilton Declaration.

A spokesman said: “The declaration contains important political commitments, to be undertaken by signatory states and territories, to support the adoption of mechanisms within the High Seas Treaty to protect the Sargasso Sea.

“Those mechanisms are called Area Based Management Tools and they can be adjusted to specific sectors or geographically defined areas to achieve both conservation and sustainable use objectives.

“The Hamilton II Declaration does not intend to prescribe what exact management tools should be adopted in the Sargasso Sea — that will be subject to separate work under the treaty.

“Rather, the declaration seeks to achieve the first key step of signalling political support by states and territories to develop a collective proposal under the BBNJ Agreement to protect those parts of the Sargasso Sea that are outside the jurisdiction of any state.”

The UK passed its BBNJ Act last week, bringing it a step closer to ratification. Once secondary legislation is passed this year, Britain will join other states as a party to the treaty.

Bermuda cannot independently ratify the treaty but has long championed the protection of the Sargasso Sea, including through the first iteration of the Hamilton Declaration, signed to protect a large area of the surrounding waters, along with the work of the Sargasso Sea Commission.

Jaché Adams, the Minister of Public Works and Environment, said: “Over the past decade, Bermuda has championed science-based stewardship and helped to strengthen co-operation among governments, researchers and ocean stakeholders to safeguard this globally important high-seas ecosystem.

“As work accelerates under the new BBNJ Agreement, Bermuda remains committed to supporting measures that enhance the conservation of the Sargasso Sea’s unique biodiversity and promote its long-term ecological resilience.”

The draft declaration, which is not legally binding, was prepared at a meeting in Bermuda last year facilitated by Government House.

The informal meeting was attended by expert representatives from the Governments of the UK and Bermuda, with the assistance of representatives from some signatories to the original Hamilton Declaration, and members of the secretariat to the Sargasso Sea Commission.

Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, who made Government House facilities available to assist in the initiative, said: “In my former role, I was the director of ocean policy for the Foreign Office for eight years. During that time, I was heavily involved in the work to finalise the text of the High Seas Treaty.

“I was at the final negotiation session in the United Nations in New York. During that final two-week negotiation session, states came together, including working through the night, to get the treaty text agreed.

“It was a watershed moment when that happened. It signalled the ability of the world to take co-ordinated global action to tackle the climate and nature crisis. It also demonstrates the ongoing role of multilateral institutions in facing global challenges.

“The treaty is critical to help protect the high seas — the ocean that lies beyond the limits of any coastal states waters — and its coming into force this year provides an opportunity to take steps that were not previously possible.

“For marine life, this means stronger protections in areas that have previously been vulnerable to exploitation. There are also benefits for people, as a healthy marine ecosystem underpins important global fisheries and climate regulation critical for communities around the world.”

Mr Murdoch commended the work of both governments in their work on the joint initiative under the treaty.

The draft instrument provides a chance for non-government partners to sign, signalling support. It will be subject to a series of consultations to ensure it can best meet its objective, taking into account the views of various stakeholders.

Bermuda and the UK intend to hold an engagement and consultation session with interested civil society representatives in Bermuda on March 20.

A government spokesman added: “The importance of listening to stakeholders in Bermuda is recognised and the meeting in March will be the first formal consultation on the draft text. It will be followed by other consultations, including in New York later in March.”

He said the intention was to finalise the declaration text and open it up for signature ahead of the first Conference of Parties — which is expected to take place before January 16, 2027.