17th Session of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS took place in Managua, Nicaragua (6-9 May 2024)

The (hybrid) Seventeenth Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE-EWS XVII) took place in Managua, Nicaragua during 6-9 May 2024 with the participation of 83 experts (28 in-person, 55 virtual) from 15 ICG/CARIBE-EWS Members States (8 in-person, 7 virtual), including 27 Observers.

Noting the cross-cutting elements of its work programme closely connected with the UN EW4All and guided by strategic elements such as the Ocean Decade Tsunami Program Research and Development Implementation Plan (ODTP) and UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme (TRRP), the ICG/CARIBE-EWS at its 17th session decided to establish a Steering Committee not only to make a move towards harmonization of global ICG governance structures but also to ensure provision of strategic guidance to its work programme and serve as an efficient instrument of results-based management, especially in providing an oversight in the execution of its decisions and recommendations.

Recalling the second objective of the ODTP that 100 percent of communities at risk to be prepared and resilient to tsunamis by 2030 through efforts like TRRP, the ICG/CARIBE-EWS decided to establish a Tsunami Ready Task Team. Furthermore, noting the progress made in the implementation of the UN Ocean Decade endorsed SMART Cable initiative in the Pacific and Atlantic,a SMART Cable dedicated subgroup was also established at this session under Working Group 2 on Tsunami Detection, Analysis and Forecasting.

ICG/CARIBE-EWS further decided that the CARIBE WAVE 25 exercise will take place on Thursday, March 20, 2025, and will use 1692 Jamaica the 1755 Lisbon scenarios.

Noting that 2025 will be the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS, 2026 will be the 20th anniversary of the first ICG/CARIBE-EWS and 2027 will be the 20th Session of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS, ICG/CARIBE-EWS XVII decided to organize Tsunami Ready Summit in May 2025 back-to-back to the 18th Session of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS. For its 19th Session in 2026, the ICG/CARIBE-EWS decided to organize an event back-to-back with ICG/CARIBE-EWS XIX in close coordination with IOCARIBE, WMO, UNDRR and other stakeholders in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions to promote accomplishments of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS, focus on current and remaining challenges and provide an outlook within the MHEWS framework and aligned with the objectives of EW4All.

Recognizing that one of the priority areas of IOCARIBE is early warning systems for regional hazards and acknowledging the need and benefit to strengthen cooperation between IOCARIBE and ICG/CARIBE-EWS, the session requested its newly established Steering Committee to revamp the Group of Experts initiative on work and implementation plan to enhance the warning system by including other coastal hazards, in the coordination with of the IOCARIBE Secretariat and the regional offices of WMO and UNDRR, in support of the UNSGs EW4All initiative.

Finally, acknowledging the UNESCO recommendations on reducing UNESCO’s carbon footprint to meet its set target of reducing its emissions by 31 per cent by 2030, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, it was decided to consider conducting its future sessions from 2026 onwards in-person only every second year, and online every other.