Cuba aspires to good sense and human
intelligence prevailing over irrationality and barbarity
Mr. President;
Your Excellencies:
Twenty years ago, on June 12, 1992, in this same conference
hall, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz stated, and I quote,
“An important biological species is at risk of disappearing due to the rapid
and progressive liquidation of its natural living conditions: humanity.” End of
quote.
What could have been
considered alarmist, today constitutes an irrefutable reality. The inability to
transform unsustainable models of production and consumption is threatening the
balance and regeneration of natural mechanisms which sustain life forms on the
planet.
The effects cannot be hidden.
Species are becoming extinct at a speed one hundred times faster than those
indicated in fossil records; more than five million hectares of forests are
lost every year; and close to 60% of ecosystems are degraded.
In spite of the landmark
signified by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, carbon dioxide
emissions increased by 38% from 1990 to 2009. We are now moving toward a global
increase in temperature which will place at risk, in the first place, the
integrity and physical existence of numerous developing island states and will
produce serious consequences in the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A profound and detailed study
undertaken during the last five years by our scientific institutions is in
basic agreement with reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
and confirms that, during this century, if current trends are maintained, a
gradual and considerable rise in average sea levels will take place in the
Cuban archipelago. This forecast includes the intensification of extreme
meteorological events, such as tropical hurricanes, and an increase in the
salinity of underground water sources. All of this will have serious
consequences, especially for our coastal areas, so we have initiated the
adoption of appropriate measures.
Equally, this phenomenon will
have serious geographic, demographic and economic implications for the
Caribbean islands which, moreover, must confront the inequalities of an
international economic system which excludes the smallest and most vulnerable.
The paralysis of negotiations
and the lack of an agreement which could make it possible to halt global
climate change are a clear reflection of a lack of political will and the
inability of developed countries to act in accordance with obligations
concomitant with their historical responsibility and current position. This has
been demonstrated in this meeting, despite the extraordinary effort made by
Brazil, for which we are grateful.
Poverty is increasing, hunger
and malnutrition are growing and inequality is expanding, aggravated in recent
decades as a consequence of neoliberalism.
During these 20 years, wars of a new
kind have been launched, focused on the conquest of energy resources, as was
the case in 2003, on the pretext of weapons of mass destruction which never
existed, and the recent war in North Africa. Acts of aggression against Middle
Eastern countries which can now be discerned will be compounded by others, with
the objective of controlling access to water and other resources in the process
of being exhausted. It must be made clear that attempting a new division of the
world will unleash a spiral of conflicts of incalculable consequences for a
planet already seriously insecure, and moreover, sick.
In the last two decades,
military spending has grown to the astronomical sum of $1.74 trillion, almost
double that of 1992, which is leading to an arms race in other states which
feel threatened. Two decades after the end of the Cold War, against who will
these arms be used?
Let us stop the justifications
and egoisms and seek solutions. This time, everyone, absolutely everyone, will
pay for the consequences of climate change. Governments of industrialized
countries which are acting in this manner should not commit the serious error
of believing that they can survive a little longer at our cost. The waves of
millions of hungry and desperate people from the South toward the North will be
uncontainable, as will the rebellion of the peoples in the face of such
indolence and injustice. No hegemonism will be possible then. End the plunder,
end war, let us advance toward disarmament and destroy the nuclear arsenals.
We are required to make a
transcendental change. The only alternative is to build more just societies; to
establish a more equitable international order based on respect for the rights
of all; to ensure the sustainable development of nations, especially those of
the South; and place advances in science and technology at the service of the
salvation of the planet and human dignity.
Cuba aspires to good sense and human
intelligence prevailing over irrationality and barbarity.
Thank you very much
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