[NYTr] Speech by Cuban FM at High-Level UN Event on Climate Change

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Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles


Speech by Cuban Foreign Minister  Felipe Perez Roque
at UN High-Level Event on Climate Change, Sep 24, 2007

Havana, Sept 25 (acn) Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque spoke 
on Monday, September 24, at a UN high-level event on climate change in 
New York, United States. ACN offers the full text of the Cuban 
diplomat's speech.

Mr. President:

We met, as we are doing now, fifteen years ago at the United Nations 
Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro. It 
was a historic moment. There, we took on the commitment later on 
contained in the Convention on Climate Change and, subsequently, in the 
Kyoto Protocol. Cuba was then the first country to take the 
environmental issue to a constitutional platform.

That day, President Fidel Castro delivered a brief and fundamental 
speech, which overwhelmed those present in the plenary of such 
conference. He told profound truths, breaking them down one by one from 
an unwavering ethical and humanistic position:

"An important biological species is at risk of disappearing due to the 
rapid and progressive elimination of its natural habitat: man.

"(...) consumer societies are fundamentally responsible for the 
atrocious destruction of the environment.

"The solution cannot be to hinder the development of the neediest.

"If we want to save humanity from that self-destruction, there must be 
a better distribution of the available wealth and technologies on the 
planet. There must be less luxury and less squandering in a few 
countries so that there will be less impoverishment and less famine in 
a large portion of the Earth."

The truth is that almost nothing was done afterwards. The situation is 
now a lot more critical, the dangers are greater and we are running out 
of time.

The scientific evidence is clear. Practical observation is 
overwhelming. These could only be called into question by irresponsible 
people. The last ten years have been the warmest. There is a decrease 
in the thickness of artic ice. Glaciers are receding. Sea level is on 
the rise. Also increasing is the frequency and intensity of hurricanes.

The future looks worse: some 30% of all species will disappear if 
global temperature increases by 1.5 to 2.5 degrees centigrade. Small 
island states are running the risk of disappearing under the waters.

In order to face the danger, we have agreed on two strategies. 
Mitigation, which is the reduction in and absorption of the emissions; 
and adaptation, referring to actions aimed at reducing vulnerability to 
the impacts of climate change.

However, it is increasingly clear that this dramatic situation will not 
be tackled unless there is a shift in the current unbridled production 
and consumption patterns, presented as the dream to achieve through an 
unscrupulous and ongoing worldwide advertising campaign on which a 
trillion dollars is invested every year.

We have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed 
countries, responsible for 76% of the emissions of greenhouse gases 
accumulated since 1850, have to bear the brunt of mitigation and must 
set the example. What is even worse is that their emissions increased 
by over 12% between 1990 and 2003, and those of the United States in 
particular grew by over 20%. Therefore, they must begin by honoring the 
ever-modest commitments contained in the Kyoto Protocol and by taking 
on new and ambitious goals to reduce emissions as of 2012.

The problem will not be resolved by purchasing the quota of the poor 
countries. That is a selfish and inefficient path. Nor will it be 
resolved by turning food into fuels as proposed by President Bush. It 
is a sinister idea. Real reductions must be achieved in the emission 
sources. A real energy revolution must take place with a focus on 
saving and efficiency. A great deal of political will and courage is 
required to wage this battle. Cuba's modest experience, successful and 
encouraging despite the blockade and the aggressions that we suffer 
from, is proof that we can do it.

On the other hand, the fight against climate change cannot be an 
obstacle impeding the development of the over 100 countries that have 
yet to attain it and which, by the way, are not the historic culprits 
of what has happened; it has to be compatible with the sustainable 
development of our countries. We reject the pressures directed to the 
underdeveloped countries so that these enter into binding commitments 
to reduce emissions. What is more, the portion of global emissions 
pertaining to the underdeveloped countries must increase in order to 
meet the needs of their socio-economic development. The underdeveloped 
countries have no moral authority to demand anything on this issue.

Paradoxically, the countries that have caused the least global warming, 
particularly the small island states and the least developed countries, 
are the most vulnerable and threatened. For them to implement 
adaptation policies they need unrestricted access to clean technologies 
and to financing.

However, the developed countries are the ones monopolizing the patents, 
the technologies and the money. They are, therefore, responsible for 
the Third World to gain access to substantial amounts of fresh funding 
above the current Official Development Assistance levels, which are 
completely insufficient in fact. They must also be held accountable for 
the effective free transfer of technologies and the training of human 
resources in our countries - something which, of course, will not be 
resolved through the market or the neoliberal policies imposed through 
pressure and blackmail.

And the largest responsibility lies, without a doubt, with the country 
that most squanders, the one that most pollutes, the one that has the 
most money and technologies - which, at the same time, refuses to 
ratify the Kyoto Protocol and has not shown any commitment at all to 
this meeting convened by the United Nations Secretary-General.

Mr. President:

Cuba is hopeful that the forthcoming Bali Conference will produce a 
clear mandate for the developed countries to reduce, by 2020, their 
emissions by no less than 40% as compared to their 1990 levels; a 
mandate negotiated within the framework of the Convention and not in 
small cliques and selective collusions as proposed by the Government of 
the United States.

Cuba also expects that a mechanism be adopted to ensure the expeditious 
transfer to the underdeveloped countries of clean technologies under 
preferential terms, with the utmost priority to the small island states 
and the least developed countries, which are the most vulnerable.

We also expect that new and additional resources be allocated, and that 
financial support mechanisms be adopted to assist the underdeveloped 
countries in implementing our adaptation strategies. By way of example, 
if only half the money that our countries must pay every year in 
servicing a burdensome debt that does not cease to grow were set aside 
for these purposes, we would have over US$ 200 billion per annum. 
Another alternative would be to earmark merely the tenth of what the 
sole military superpower on the planet spends on wars and weapons and 
we would have another US$ 50 billion available. The money is there, but 
political will is lacking.

Mr. President:

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has called upon us today to 
send a powerful political message to the forthcoming Bali Conference. I 
find no better way to say it on Cuba's behalf than to repeat Fidel's 
words that 12 June 1992:

"Let selfishness end, let hegemonies end, let insensitivity, 
irresponsibility and deceit end. Tomorrow it will be too late to do 
what we should have done a long time ago."

Thank you very much.