CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Statement by Ambassador Pedro Nuñez Mosquera, Permanent Representative Of Cuba to the United Nations, at the General Assembly Session to Celebrate the Proclamation of 22 April International Mother Earth Day

Mr. President,

We gather here today to celebrate a day that should be of pride and joy for all of us who live in this planet, due to the benefits Mother Earth has given us for centuries. However, we have come to this room with concern and anguish, knowing nature and its entire species, including the human race, are in grave danger of disappearing.  

In 1992, President Fidel Castro, in his speech during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, warned: “An important biological species is in danger of disappearing due to the fast and progressive destruction of its natural living conditions: mankind (…) The solution cannot be to prevent the development of those who need it most (…) If we want to save mankind from this self-destruction, we have to better distribute the wealth and technologies available in the world. Less luxury and less waste by a few countries is needed so there is less poverty and less hunger on a large part of the Earth. ”

For several years, Cuba has been warning about the unsustainable character of the absurd production and consumption patterns generated by a social model based on market laws, entailing the usual inequity in the distribution of resources. At present, the world is struggling to overcome the multiple crises scourging it, such as the food, energy, environmental, water, as well as the economic and financial crises, among others.

The abovementioned validates the need to transform the prevailing unjust international economic order; eliminate all sort of inequalities between rich and poor countries; foster the political will of the developed world to provide the rest of the countries with new and additional financial resources devoted to sustainable development; create capacities and eliminate evident inefficiencies in accessing technologies based on preferences. 

Humankind witnesses every day the negative effects of climate change and developing countries are the most affected in this respect. Phenomena of catastrophic magnitude like earthquake, drought, tsunamis, melting of glaciers, and rise in global temperature and in sea level, among others, have a devastating impact on our populations, which see their consequences reflected in the increase in the rates of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and preventable diseases .    

The existing world order has left around 2.5 billion human beings in poverty, 1.1 billion with no drinking water, and 2.6 billion with no sanitation services. As a consequence of this crisis, there are over 800 million illiterates and over 115 million children with no access to primary education; one third of the people with HIV/AIDS are not provided with regular treatment; and in Africa, just to give an example, two out of three patients totally lack antiretroviral drugs.    

Apart from these alarming data that are part of the everyday life in this planet, it could be mentioned the fact that while one billion people in the First World waste about half of the energy of the planet, two billion poor people lack electricity. Or it could be added that while the developed world avoids its responsibility regarding mitigation, just 30 nations consume 80% of the fuel produced in the planet. The 76% of greenhouse gas emissions come from industrialized countries and statistics point out that said emissions increased by 12 % in these countries between 1990 and 2003.  

Mr. President,

The need for a radical change in the use of energy and for a realistic perception on the urgency to decrease consumption patterns, mainly in the developed world, places us in the position to define if we really want to achieve so commendable purposes as the Millennium Goals, which seem to remain a chimera and not a concrete result of our species’ will to survive. 

We must call upon ourselves to reflect and to truly become aware of the importance of keeping ourselves in harmony with nature. If we do not find a proper balance in achieving the present and future human well-being, if we do not go deep into the concept of sustainable development from our species’ perspective, we will end up destroying, with our own hands, the chances of life in this planet.

Our peoples, taking into account the diversity of their cultures, customs, species and lifestyles, deserve to survive in order to hand down what has been learned to future generations, to be in the collective memory of our Mother Earth. We must fight to maintain ethical and moral principles of respect for the environment, for the peoples, for life.    

Nature has warned us and showed us its worst rough edges. We have benefited from it, and in this path we have learned to grow and advance. It is now the duty of the human species to find enough wisdom to preserve what we have and stop the disasters resulting from our irresponsible actions.

The conviction that a better world is possible should guide our actions so as to preserve Mother Earth as a natural living space for present and future generations.

 

Thank you

(Cubaminrex- Embacuba ONU)

 

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