During the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly held today to commemorate International Mother Earth Day, Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, delivered a powerful and committed speech on the theme "Harmony with Nature.
In his speech, he warned of the severity of the global environmental crisis, citing alarming figures such as the annual loss of 10 million hectares of forest and the threat of extinction for nearly one million species. “Mother Earth is clearly asking us to act,” he stressed.
Soberón Guzmán stressed that the root causes of this environmental crisis lie in the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption historically imposed by developed countries. In this sense, he denounced that the prevention of development in the countries of the South is also a form of ecological aggression.
The Cuban representative called for a transformation of the current international economic order, which he described as unjust, and demanded that developed countries fulfill their commitments to technology transfer, climate finance and emissions reduction. He also reiterated the need to recognize and repay historical ecological debt.
Cuba, Soberón stressed, maintains its commitment to sustainable development, which is enshrined in its Constitution. “We will continue to defend the right of our species to exist in harmony with nature,” he assured.
The Ambassador concluded his speech by recalling the words of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who spoke at the Rio Summit in 1992: "Let human life be more rational. Let a just international economic order be implemented. Let science work toward a sustainable development without contamination. Let the ecologic debt be paid and not the foreign debt. Let hunger disappear and not man".
With this message, Cuba reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the protection of the planet and global environmental justice.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations