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Your Excellency,
At the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development held in Rio de Janeiro 16 years
ago, Fidel Castro uttered a prophetic warning,
stating that “an important biological species is
at risk of disappearing as a result of the rapid
and progressive destruction of its natural
living conditions: humanity". Time has proven
him right.
Let us not mince our words: we shan’t attain
sustainable development, the negative impacts of
climate change will neither be halted or
reversed, the environment will not be preserved
for future generations, if the irrational
patterns of production, distribution and
consumption imposed upon us by capitalism
prevail. The globalization of neo-liberal
policies has drastically exacerbated the crisis.
Facing the vital crisis that threatens humanity
today cannot consist in preventing the
development of those who need development the
most. We have common, albeit differentiated,
responsibilities. Those who have unjustly and
selfishly hoarded riches and technologies, who
are responsible for 76 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions since 1850, must bear most of the
weight of this effort.
Developed countries must honour the commitments
assumed at Kyoto in connection with the
mitigation of this phenomenon and, in addition
to this, mobilize additional resources to aid in
adaptation efforts undertaken in South
countries.
If, for instance, the United States were to
reallocate, as official aid for sustainable
development, a small portion of its military
budget for the 2008 fiscal year, a budget which
reaches the astronomical figure of 696 billion
dollars, a vital contribution to this effort
could be made. European Union countries —several
of which register the highest military budgets
on the planet—could be the first to take steps
in this direction and steer their main ally to
follow in their footsteps.
A growing number of countries can no longer
afford to pay the price of many food products.
Hunger continues to claim lives and the
situation is getting worse. The sinister plans
to convert food into fuel advanced by the
President of the United States must be combated
on the strength of scientific arguments and the
unquestionable evidence and eloquent facts
afforded us by everyday life.
Sustainable development presupposes a revolution
in our values and in the way we confront the
inequalities of today and the challenges of
tomorrow. We must undertake a global energy
revolution sustained by savings, rationality and
efficiency.
Cuba hopes the members of the European Union
shall assume their duties. The responsible
conduct of its members shall serve to expedite
the assumption, by the rest of developed
countries, of the commitment to reduce their
greenhouse emissions, by 2020, by no less than
40 percent in relation to their 1990 levels.
The European Union, a world leader in the
production of clean technologies and the export
of renewable energy sources, is in a position to
create a mechanism for the transfer of these
technologies, under completely preferential
conditions, to the countries of Latin America,
the Caribbean and the rest of the Third World.
I will mention but one example: the generosity
of the people and government of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela and initiatives such as
PETROCARIBE and ALBA are an example that ought
to be followed by the European Union.
The time is ripe for acting, in the spirit of
solidarity, and without demagogy.
Thank you very much. |
