The Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates, H.E. Mariam Almheiri led the official Emirati delegation that participated in the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China, on September 15 and 16, in Havana.
At the event, the Emirati Minister highlighted the importance of the contributions of this Group to represent the interests of the Global South and guarantee equitable access to the benefits of technology. She made reference to the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28), to be held in her country, from November 30 to December 12 of this year, which she defined as an opportunity to accelerate initiatives to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this sense, she added that: “We believe science, innovation and technology are the tools humanity needs to drive collective progress on climate action and help put us back on track to achieving our goal of reducing global emissions by 43% by 2030. (…)Member states of the G77 must continue to support each other in what is our shared endeavour.”
During her visit to Cuba, Minister Almheiri also developed a fruitful bilateral agenda, which included a greeting to President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez. In her exchange with the Cuban president, she conveyed the congratulations of his Emirati counterpart, His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for the successful Cuban Presidency of the G-77+China and the organization of the Summit.
Likewise, Mariam Almheiri held significant meetings with the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz; the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya; and the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de La O Levis. In all the meetings, the excellent links between Cuba and the UAE were highlighted, as well as the willingness to develop them even further, based on the promotion of bilateral cooperation projects and exchange of experiences in sectors of mutual interest, for example, agriculture, food, marine life and Blue Economy.
The G-77+China Summit, convened by Cuba as pro tempore President of the Group, had as its motto: “Current development challenges: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation,” and was attended by more of 1,300 participants from 116 countries and 12 organizations and agencies of the United Nations system, who addressed the challenges of the nations of the South and their solutions.