Nineteenth Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions

Meeting

29 - 30 September 2026

Location

Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala

Organizer & Staff

Organizer
- Dr. Lorna Inniss
- Mr. Alejandro Rojas Aldana
- Paola Diaz -Canales
- Ms. Maria Toro Wills
- Dr Marko Tosic
- Ermes Palomino

Participation

Summary

The Nineteenth Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (SC-IOCARIBE-XIX) will take place from September 29 to 30, 2026, in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The session will be preceded by a Regional Workshop on September 28, 2026.

This session will bring together representatives from IOCARIBE Member States, as well as international and regional organizations, to review the progress of the Sub-Commission's activities since the last session in 2025.

During the session, key topics for the strategic development of the region will be addressed, including the review of programme activities by High Level Objectives of the IOC Result Framework and regional contributions to the IOC and Future of the Ocean consultation process. In addition, the progress of important projects will be reviewed in areas such as ocean observations, marine hazards, climate change resilience, and the sustainable ocean economy.

At the conclusion of the session, participants will adopt key decisions, formulate recommendations to guide the Sub-Commission's actions during the next biennium (2028–2029), and elect new members of the Board of Officers for the intersessional period.

This event will be a key opportunity to strengthen regional and international cooperation for marine sustainability and scientific and technical development in the Caribbean and adjacent regions.

REGISTRATION

All participants in the session must register individually in the online registration platform at the following link: https://forms.gle/24t2vMUP7ZNBpwYr8, where they must indicate whether they will participate in person or virtually.

La Decimonovena Sesión Intergubernamental de la Subcomisión de la COI para el Caribe y las Regiones Adyacentes (SC-IOCARIBE-XIX) se llevará a cabo del 29 al 30 de septiembre de 2026 en la Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala. La sesión estará precedida por un Taller Regional el 28 de septiembre de 2026.

Este encuentro reunirá a representantes de los Estados miembros de IOCARIBE, así como a organizaciones internacionales y regionales, para revisar el progreso de las actividades de la Subcomisión desde la última sesión en 2025.

Durante la sesión se abordarán temas clave para el desarrollo estratégico de la región, incluyendo la revisión de las actividades del programa según los Objetivos de Alto Nivel del Marco de Resultados de la COI y las contribuciones regionales al proceso de consulta de la COI y el Futuro del Océano. Además, se revisarán los avances de proyectos importantes en áreas como la observación oceánica, la gestión sostenible de los océanos y la planificación espacial marina.

Al final de la sesión, los participantes adoptarán decisiones clave y formularán recomendaciones para guiar las acciones de la Subcomisión durante el próximo bienio (2028–2029), además de elegir a los nuevos miembros de la Junta Directiva para el período intersesional.

Este evento será una oportunidad fundamental para fortalecer la cooperación regional e internacional en pro de la sostenibilidad marina y el desarrollo científico y técnico en el Caribe y las regiones adyacentes.

INSCRIPCIÓN

Todos los participantes en la sesión deberán inscribirse individualmente en la plataforma de registro online en el siguiente enlace: https://forms.gle/24t2vMUP7ZNBpwYr8, en este formulario deberán indicar si participarán de forma presencial o virtual.

1

OPENING CEREMONY

2

OPENING STATEMENTS

2.4

COMMEMORATION TO SHELLY ANNE COX

2.1

STATEMENT BY THE IOC EXECUTIVE SECRETARY (OR DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE)

2.2

STATEMENT BY RSC CHAIR

2.3

STATEMENTS BY MEMBER STATES

3

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

3.1

ADOPTION OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA

3.2

ESTABLISHMENT OF SESSIONAL GROUPS (NOMINATIONS, FINANCIAL & RECOMMENDATIONS COMMITTEES)

3.3

PROCESS FOR ELECTION OF OFFICERS

4

REPORT OF THE RSC CHAIR

4.1

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN SINCE THE LAST SESSION

4.2

KEY GOVERNANCE, POLICY AND STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL

5

REPORT OF THE IOC EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND RSC SECRETARIAT

5.1

PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR THE INTERSESSIONAL PERIOD

5.2

FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY REPORT

5.3

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS ADOPTED AT THE PREVIOUS SESSION

5.4

DISCUSSION

6

REVIEW OF RSC PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES BY HIGH LEVEL OBJECTIVES (HLOS) OF THE IOC RESULT FRAMEWORK

6.1

HLO 1 — HEALTHY OCEAN AND SUSTAINED OCEAN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

6.2

HLO 2 — EFFECTIVE WARNING SYSTEMS AND PREPAREDNESS FOR TSUNAMIS AND OTHER OCEAN-RELATED HAZARDS

6.3

HLO 3 — RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND CONTRIBUTION TO ITS MITIGATION

6.4

HLO 4 — SCIENTIFICALLY FOUNDED SERVICES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ECONOMY

6.5

HLO 5 — FORESIGHT ON EMERGING OCEAN SCIENCE ISSUES

6.6

REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OCEAN DECADE

6.7

DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE FROM MEMBER STATES AND OBSERVERS

7

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM REGIONAL PARTNERS AND OBSERVERS

7.1

BRIEF STATEMENTS OR UPDATES FROM INVITED PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND OBSERVERS

7.2

IDENTIFICATION OF COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

8

REGIONAL WORKPLAN AND BUDGET: FINALIZATION OF PRIORITY ACTIVITIES FOR 2028 – 2029 BIENNIUM

8.1

PRESENTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATED LIST OF REGIONAL PRIORITY ACTIVITIES (DRAWING ON WORKSHOP, AND DAY 2 DISCUSSIONS)

8.2

PRESENTATION OF THE REGULAR PROGRAMME (RP) BUDGET ALLOCATION (DRAFT)

8.3

IDENTIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES REQUIRING EXTRA-BUDGETARY (XB) RESOURCES

8.4

DISCUSSION BY HLO AND AGREEMENT ON ACTIVITIES TO BE INCLUDED

8.5

ALIGNMENT WITH IOC RESULT FRAMEWORK INDICATORS AND EXPECTED RESULTS

8.6

AGREEMENT ON RESPECTIVE ROLES: MEMBER STATES, SECRETARIAT AND PARTNERS

9

PRESENTATION OF KEY CONCLUSIONS TO INFORM PHASE 3 CONSULTATION PROCESS FOR 'IOC AND FUTURE OF THE OCEAN'

9.1

PRESENTATION OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE DAY 1 WORKSHOP IN RELATION TO STRATEGIC PRIORITY ISSUES TO INFORM THE PHASE 3 CONSULTATION PROCESS LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEXT IOC MEDIUM TERM STRATEGY

9.2

OPTIONAL - ENDORSEMENT BY MEMBER STATES AS A RECOMMENDATION TO THE IOC ASSEMBLY FOR ISSUES TO BE INCLUDED AS REGIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO IOC AND FUTURE OF THE OCEAN PROCESS (2027)

10

PRESENTATION AND ENDORSEMENT OF THE DRAFT REGIONAL WORKPLAN AND BUDGET DOCUMENT 2028 - 2029

10.1

PRESENTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATED DRAFT DOCUMENT BY THE SECRETARIAT

10.2

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS AND AGREEMENT ON FINAL TEXT

10.3

ENDORSEMENT BY MEMBER STATES AS A RECOMMENDATION TO THE IOC ASSEMBLY (2027)

11

ADOPTION OF RSC DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE IOC ASSEMBLY

11.1

PRESENTATION OF DRAFT DECISIONS BY THE SECRETARIAT AND DRAFT RECOMMENDATION (WORKPLAN AND BUDGET AND ANY OTHER MATTER REQUIRING THE CONSIDERATION BY THE IOC ASSEMBLY)

11.2

DISCUSSION AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS BY MEMBER STATES

11.3

ADOPTION BY CONSENSUS (OR VOTE IF REQUIRED)

12

ELECTION OF RSC OFFICERS

12.1

DEPENDING ON THE NOMINATIONS RECEIVED, AN ELECTION FOR THE BEARERS OF RSC OFFICERS MAY BE REQUIRED

13

DATE AND PLACE OF THE NEXT SESSION

14

PROCESS FOR FINALIZING RSC SUMMARY REPORT

14.1

PRESENTATION OF THE DRAFT SUMMARY RECORD BY THE SECRETARIAT

14.2

REVIEW, CORRECTIONS AND ADOPTION BY MEMBER STATES

15

CLOSING OF THE SESSION

15.1

CLOSING STATEMENT BY THE RSC CHAIR

15.2

CLOSING REMARKS BY THE IOC SECRETARIAT

View full event agenda on OceanExpert.org

Agenda Documents

Item	Code	Title	Updated
3.1	IOC/SC-IOCARIBE-XIX/3.1	PROVISIONAL AGENDA	01 Aug 2026
3.1	IOC/SC-IOCARIBE-XIX/3.1.2	PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE	01 Aug 2026
5.1	IOC/SC-IOCARIBE-XIX/5.1	IOCARIBE SECRETARY'S REPORT	01 Aug 2026