IOC
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/

Type of Structure:	committee / commission
Regional Scope :	global
Parent Organisations :	UNESCO.UN
Child Organisations :	GCOS, GOOS, IGOS, WCIRP, WCRP No more in operation : ACSYS
Duration :	0 to present
Contact Address :	Mr. Patricio Bernal

holding an official function in IOC

Objectives of IOC:

The IOC was established as a body with functional autonomy within UNESCO. Its functions are to develop, recommend and coordinate an international programme for scientific investigation of the oceans and related ocean services, which call for concerted action by its members. Through the study of the Tropical Oceans and Global Atmosphere (TOGA), the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the project on Ocean Dynamics and Circulation on the Continental Shelf and the Development of a Global Ocean Observing System (with WMO, UNEP and ICSU), the IOC promotes marine scientific investigations in the field of ocean dynamics and climate. Other IOC programmes focus on ocean science in relation to living resources (jointly with FAO), on marine pollution, ocean mapping etc. Since 1992/93 the IOC has been one of the co-sponsors of WCRP.

A major task is to promote training, education and mutual assistance (TEMA). The Commission also promotes the Global SeaLevel Observing System (GLOSS); the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE); and the International Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (ITSU).

The IOC is one of the signatories, together with ICSU, UNEP and WMO, to a memorandum of understanding to develop the concept of a Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).

Contact Point:-

UNESCO
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
7, Place de Fontenoy
F-75700 Paris
France
Tel: 33 1 4568 3990
FAX: 33 1 4056 9316

source:
International Directory of Global Environmental Research (GER)
Initiatives, Programmes and Organisations (Version 3, 1993)
published by the UK Global Environmental Research (GER) Office



For further details, link to the IOC Home Page

Last update: 11/13/06

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