Suva, December 11. Cuba reaffirmed its solidarity with the Pacific Islands and reiterated the imperative to implement urgent actions and more ambitious commitments that contribute to mitigate or eliminate the effects of climate variations, by intervening in the High-Level Roundtable on Urgent Climate Change Action, hosted virtually by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat.
Adianez Taboada Zamora, Vice Minister of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba and head of the Cuban delegation to the event, shared with the participants the valuable experiences of the State Plan to confront Climate Change, known as "Tarea Vida", which is implemented in the national territory and includes "adaptation and mitigation actions in all sectors of the economy and society, in correspondence with the country's Economic and Social Development Strategy until 2030".
The Vice Minister highlighted that in the international order, Cuba has taken important steps in the fulfillment of the climate agreements, by presenting “the update of its Nationally Determined Contribution, which contains thirteen adaptation actions and five mitigation goals, mainly directed to the sectors of agriculture, transport, forestry and renewable energy ”.
Taboada Zamora added that because of their responsibility, developed countries "must lead global actions to mitigate greenhouse gases and support developing countries, under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities," while demanded from the United States to suspend without conditions the criminal blockade policy and the attacks against Cuba, "to allow us to dedicate more financial resources to the confrontation of climate change that affects our Island."
Opening the meeting, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu and Forum Chair, Honorable Kausea Natano, expressed that the Paris Agreement was a milestone to protect all people and the planet. " But we are not meeting our commitments, we are not on track," he remarked. “We must raise our ambition and act now. The future of our Blue Pacific depends on it. Today, as we look towards COP26 in Glasgow, we reaffirm our calls and invite our international Dialogue Partners to join us in urgent action.”
On her side, PIF General Secretary Meg Taylor considered that COVID-19 should not be a reason to delay action against climate change. “Rather, it should serve as a motivation to the global community to better prepare for shocks, underpin our policies with science, and bolster multilateral efforts to tackle common threats. We must ensure that financing for COVID-19 recovery advances the goals of the Paris Agreement and puts us on a course for climate smart, sustainable development.”
The dialogue session, convened within the framework of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement, was attended by the Presidents of Nauru and the Marshall Islands; the Prime Ministers of Fiji, Tuvalu, Samoa, Vanuatu, Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands, as well as representatives of the 18 PIF Dialogue Partners, a condition that Cuba has held since 2012.
The Caribbean representation was also made up of the Cuban Ambassador to Fiji, Carlos Manuel Rojas Lago.
Embassy of Cuba in Fiji