Despite the blockade, Cuba has made strenuous efforts in the fight against climate change

Intervention by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in the event “Reencounter with Mother Earth”. April 23, 2021.
Dear Heads of State and Government, Heads of Delegations accompanying us:
We commemorate the International Day of Mother Earth in the midst of a complex international crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities, extreme poverty, exclusion, discrimination and hunger, in a world already damaged by an unjust and undemocratic international order, which privileges big capital, to the detriment of human beings and nature.
This complex scenario further distances the hope of the countries of the South to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and transforms the aspirations of present and future generations into a chimera.
We welcome the call for this event, which allows us to address this decisive issue with our own approach, from the South.
Dear comrades:
Let us work together to achieve full compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, even though we know their limitations.
It is urgent to strengthen climate ambition in terms of mitigation, adaptation and provision of means of implementation to achieve the goal of limiting the increase in global mean temperature to 1.5 ° C.
Industrialized countries have the duty to assume commitments on climate action, based on their historical responsibility for the damage to Mother Earth and centuries of colonialism and looting of our natural resources.
It is imperative to enforce respect for the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and for the right of our peoples to development and the enjoyment of a healthy environment.
Developed nations must honor their international commitments regarding technology transfer, Official Development Assistance, and climate finance. The contribution of 100 billion dollars annually for mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries would be an important step towards this objective.
Dear comrades:
The Latin American and Caribbean region, despite being responsible for only 8.3% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, was hit, between 1970 and 2019, by approximately 2,300 natural disasters, which caused 500 1,000 deaths, and losses of more than $ 437 billion in damage, according to figures provided by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
In this context, Cuba and other Caribbean and Central American nations have been particularly affected by severe hydrometeorological phenomena, which have increased in frequency and intensity in the last decade.
This complex situation is aggravated, in our case, by the permanence and opportunistic recrudescence during the Covid 19 pandemic, of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government against Cuba for almost 60 years, which it constitutes the main obstacle to accessing external financing and advanced technologies in climate matters, and to achieving sustainable development.
Despite the blockade, Cuba has made strenuous efforts in the fight against climate change.
Our Constitution explicitly establishes the need to protect and conserve the environment.
Since 2017, Cuba has a “State Plan for Confronting Climate Change”, which responds to our national goals and international commitments. We intend to achieve by 2030 an energy matrix with 24% of electricity generation from renewable energy sources; reduce the use of fossil fuels in land vehicles by 50% and increase forest cover by up to 33%
Dear brothers and sisters,
The unity and political, economic, social and cultural integration of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, constitutes a peremptory need to successfully face the challenges that are presented to us, especially now, that individualism, selfishness, waste, Monroism and McCarthyism are spreading in our region.
Let me finish by recalling the prophetic words of the Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, when at the historic Earth Summit in 1992 he declared:
“If you want to save humanity from self-destruction, you have to better distribute the wealth and technologies available on the planet (…). Apply a fair international economic order. (…) Cease selfishness, cease hegemony, cease insensitivity, irresponsibility and deception. Tomorrow will be too late to do what we should have done a long time ago. “
Thank you.
Havana, April 23, 2021.
(Cubaminrex)

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