New York, 7 June 2017. As part of the United Nations Ocean Conference,the Cuban Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, José Fidel Santana Núñez, highlighted today the importance Cuba attaches to Sustainable Development Goal 14 related with the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, as well as the remaining 16 goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
After remembering the legacy of the farsighted thinking of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, he made a call to join forces to solve the problems that affect our oceans and seas, such as the pollution by waste from different land and sea sources, the acidification of the seas, illegal fishing and overfishing. He considered the menace imposed by plastic waste moving directly from land to sea, as part of a severely threatened marine ecosystem. Hence, he alerted that only the strict compliance of the 7 goals of SDG 14 could stop and reverse the growing deterioration of marine resources.
As part of his statement, the head of the Cuban delegation considered that the most industrialized countries have the moral duty, the financial and technological means and the historical responsibility to accompany developing countries in the fulfillment of such development goals.
In this regard, and while referring to the political will of the Cuban Government, he mentioned the recent adoption of the State Plan to Tackle Climate Change in the Republic of Cuba, in which the most current and outstanding advances in Cuban science are turned into strategic actions and tasks to be gradually implemented over time. He added that although it is true that every State must take on more responsibility for its own development, the will and commitment of the international community is required.
Faced with the necessity to achieve such joint effort, the Deputy Minister Santana Núñez, made a call to establish an international mechanism to facilitate the transfer of environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries; fulfill the commitments to Official Development Aid; reduce world military spending; and apply the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities between developed and developing countries, reaffirmed among the principles of the 2030 Agenda.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations