CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Statement by ambassador Rodolfo Benitez Verson, Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations, at the ECOSOC panel discussion on “opportunities for small island developing states”

New York, 20 July 2010

Mr. President,

Fifteen years ago, we met at the Barbados Conference to review the challenges we faced and the goals we had to set for the sustainable development of our nations.

Ten years later, in Port Louis, we adopted the Mauritius Strategy, for the further implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action.

Only a few days ago, last 15 July, comrade Fidel Castro Ruz reiterated in Havana, and I quote,
"The world is living between two tragedies: war and the environment"
At the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, the threats we face as nations are increasingly difficult for all.
Paradoxically, the human being is the only species which destroys its own habitat and, in the process, condemns itself to disappearance.  The challenges posed today by natural phenomena like hurricanes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and sea-level rise due to the meltdown, place Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the face of the real danger of being the first to disappear because of the unconscious conduct of the human species.
We call for the right to development of the countries of the South, including the SIDS to be respected, and for such development to take place in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.
Mr. President,

Climate change is the most serious and urgent problem faced by humankind.

The ongoing negotiations on climate change in the face of the COP 16 to be held in Cancun this December are vitally important.

Cuba stresses the importance of safeguarding the Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol; as well as the need to defend the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and respect the negotiation mechanism stipulated in the Bali Road Map, based on two tracks: the Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol and the Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action.

We seek an agreement on Climate Change on the basis of the full respect for the principles agreed on the Rio Earth Summit, especially that of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, under which developing countries assume leadership in accordance with their responsibilities and capacities.

Mr. President,

Cuba, a fiercely blockaded country for over 50 years by the major World power, has managed with little resources to implement multiple initiatives enabling the considerable reduction of its carbon dioxide emissions.

In agriculture, we have centered on developing programs for the sustainable management of land, as part of the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Drought in Cuba.

Actions of this sort have given us the opportunity to increase to 30,000 hectares the area planted with organic fertilizers, achieving important levels of organic agricultural production; to attain figures over 100 million trees planted per year as part of the reforestation of the country; and to develop a movement of Urban Agriculture that has turned over 1.2 million marginal and unused hectares into urban areas used for the production of vegetables, fruits, and medicinal plants and the rising of domestic animals.

In the field of Energy, since 2005 we have been developing a national strategy known as the “Energy Revolution”. The implementation of this strategy in our country has implied radical changes in the generation, distribution and use of electric power, a greater awareness regarding our potential of renewable sources of energy and better energy education of the entire population.

This strategy has also enabled us to reduce our vulnerability in the face of meteorological events and natural disasters, like hurricanes, reduce the relative greenhouse gas emissions, substitute the ozone-layer-depleting substances used for refrigeration, and improve the living standard of the people. All this without moving to a consumption system based on the waste of resources.

In the sector of services, particularly the area of Tourism, Cuba works seriously in the development of schemes of sustainable tourism starting from the analysis of environmental and economic bases necessary for its harmonized development.

We have had the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in order to develop tourism acting responsibly with the values of biodiversity.

We reiterate our willingness to humbly share these and many other experiences with the SIDS and the entire international community.

For our country, the consolidation of North-South and South-South cooperation mechanisms must be complemented with the cooperation among the SIDS and triangular cooperation as examples of solidarity among sister nations.

Mr. President,

Cuba reiterates the need to have the political will of the industrialized world to honor the commitments set in the Barbados Programme of Action. The materialization of programmes and projects to respond to the growing challenges Small Island States must face today is indispensable.

To achieve sustainable development in our countries, it is indispensable the mobilization of new and additional financial resources towards concrete programs; the access to environmentally sound technologies, as well as the systematic transfer of such technologies; and the development of institutional capacities, human, scientific and technological resources of developing countries, particularly Small Island States.
Promises, which almost never materialize or, when they do, stay below what was initially promised, are not enough.
We must address these topics comprehensively at the Mauritius Review Conference this September.

Cuba hopes that the final document of this important meeting will reflect properly our main concerns and needs. We also expect the Conference to reaffirm the political commitment of the international community to the promotion of the development and wellbeing of Small Island States.

Thank you.

13 de septiembre de 2010
(Cubaminrex-Misión ONU)