For the second time in its 46 years of existence the People’s Republic of China is hosting in Beijing a session of the UNESCO IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System ICG/PTWS, formerly know as ITSU and which 11th session took place in Beijing back in 1987. Since then the ICG/PTWS has developed and matured considerably but it was only recently submitted to severe tests from the nature, for the purpose it was created in 1965. Although much progress has been made in implementing tsunami warning systems globally in the last 6 years, the tsunami events of Samoa/Tonga in 2009, Chile in 2010 and Japan in 2011 clearly demonstrate that there is still much to do and that there is no room for complacency. The Twenty-Fourth session of the UNESCO IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS-XXIV) is a timely opportunity to explore ways and means of improving tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Ocean.

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