The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 16 other international partners, has awarded funding as part of the Belmont Forum, an international partnership of funding organizations, international science councils, and regional consortia committed to the advancement of transdisciplinary science. Research under this program will address multiple uses of our oceans, with a focus on identifying pathways toward responsible development and minimizing conflicts.
Thirteen projects were funded as part of the Belmont Forum’s call for proposals for studies addressing ocean sustainability. They include collaborative researchers from France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, India, Brazil and Mozambique and the U.S. BOEM will focus its funding on two three-year long projects:
- MULTI_FRAME, An Assessment Framework for Successful Development of Viable Ocean Multi-use Systems
- OCEANS_PACT, Ocean Sustainability Pathways for Achieving Conflict Transformation
The projects officially kicked off on June 17, 2020, and include case studies occurring in U.S. waters and abroad. The information they will provide on topics such as cumulative impacts and multiple use of marine space are expected to assist in BOEM’s environmental assessment process for offshore energy development.
BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program develops, funds, and manages rigorous scientific research specifically to inform policy decisions on the development of energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The Belmont Forum is an international partnership that mobilizes funding of environmental change research and accelerates its delivery to remove critical barriers to sustainability.