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The International Geoscience Programme called for proposals in 2007 defining “The Deep Earth” among five areas of special interest. Antonio García-Casco from University of Granada and PhD candidate Uwe Martens from Stanford University submitted the proposal “Subduction Zones of the Caribbean”, a project aiming to continue efforts from previous IGCP projects to unravel the complex geologic evolution of the Caribbean area, but focusing particularly on deep earth processes and materials, from both ancient suture zones and active convergent margins. The proposal was awarded support as IGCP Project 546 for the years 2007–2011. Colleagues from a number of countries and institutions worldwide enthusiastically supported the project. Our project endorses the programme “Earth Sciences for Society – an International Year of Planet Earth”. Earth’s systems greatly impinge on our daily lives. Interpreting the history of the Earth, and using that knowledge as a basis for forecasting likely future events, is a matter of global concern. Therefore, one of IGCP 546’s main goals is to establish links between ancient and current subduction zones of the Caribbean, inasmuch as this is critical for a well-founded understanding of the tectonic evolution of the associated convergent plate margins, which will hopefully enable a better understanding of the geodynamics of such a populated and geologically hazardous region.