Bermuda and the United Kingdom have jointly signed the Hamilton II Declaration, a pact intended to mobilise international backing for safeguarding the Sargasso Sea through the United Nations' Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.
The signing took place at Government House in Hamilton on Wednesday. Jaché Ada, Bermuda's Minister of Public Works and Environment, addressed those gathered to mark the occasion, stressing the ocean's integral place in island life and the duty to preserve it for coming generations.
"In Bermuda, you grow up knowing the ocean," Ada said. "We now have the responsibility to care for it. Signing the Hamilton II Declaration means we are accepting responsibility."
Uma Kumaran, the UK Minister for the Overseas Territories, made her inaugural official visit to Bermuda to participate in the ceremony. She highlighted the Sargasso Sea as "one of the most vital parts in the marine ecosystem in the world" and underscored the imperative to keep it intact for those who come after us.
The accord represents a continuation of efforts begun more than a decade earlier with the original Hamilton Declaration. Participants in the signing included delegations from the Azores, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Monaco and the Turks & Caicos Islands, alongside more than 20 conservation bodies.
According to a joint statement from Britain and Bermuda, the declaration is intended to launch efforts among nations that have ratified the BBNJ Agreement to put in place binding legal protections for the Sargasso Sea. The statement acknowledged the work of the Sargasso Sea Commission, state governments, scientific experts, environmental groups and grassroots partners in advancing protection over the past decade or more.
The inaugural Conference of Parties under the BBNJ Agreement will convene in New York in January 2027. Britain and Bermuda plan to hold a second signing ceremony at that meeting, where the European Union has indicated it intends to sign the declaration.
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