Dubai, December 1 (RHC) -- The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, spoke Friday, on behalf of Cuba and the nations of the South, at the Climate Action Summit taking place in the city of Dubai as part of COP28.
"The right of humanity to exist must be the main motivation of our discussions," said the Cuban president while speaking at the Climate Action Summit, which is taking place in the Emirate nation as part of COP28.
In one of the spacious halls of the Dubai Exhibition Center - where COP28 is taking place, that is, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - the Head of State began his remarks by thanking "the Government and people of the UAE for the warm welcome, the hospitality and the organization of this Summit". And then he addressed a matter of urgency:
"Let me begin by recalling that, a little more than two thousand kilometers from here, in Gaza, genocide is taking place. On behalf of Cuba, we categorically condemn the escalation of violence and terror unleashed against the inhabitants of that strip of land in occupied Palestine. Peace is necessary to save the planet".
Regarding the international forum, the dignitary stated that "this COP must be a space for serious and ambitious commitments". He went on to emphasize: "We welcome the decision adopted, which operationalizes the Loss and Damage Fund. We welcome the commitments announced to start capitalizing it, but note that they are still insufficient for the needs of developing countries".
Anchor "Science has repeatedly warned us of the catastrophic consequences of rising global temperatures. To ignore it would be the most costly mistake of the human species".
The Cuban president emphasized that "reversing this situation is clearly everyone's task, but only the developed nations are in a position to achieve the most ambitious reductions in their emissions, and to support the actions of the South with means of implementation".
"On the road travelled - said the President - since the Paris Conference, developing countries have driven numerous climate actions, but solidarity has been lacking and the commitments of developed countries have not materialized in correspondence with their capacities and historical responsibilities".
"The most developed countries continue to incentivize their extraction of fossil fuels. They are even talking about a doubling of fossil fuel production and consumption by 2030. These realities seriously undermine the climate of trust that should prevail among nations. Humanity's right to exist must be the main motivation for our discussions".
Later in his remarks, Díaz-Canel Bermúdez stressed that "COP 28, which will conclude the First Global Stocktaking on the Implementation of the Paris Agreement, is a unique opportunity to correct the course of collective efforts in the fight against climate change. Count on the contribution of the Group of 77 and China, which our country is honored to chair."
"Although Cuba -added the Head of State- contributes less than 0.1% of global emissions, we ratify the commitment to implement our Nationally Determined Contribution and to advance in an Energy Transition Strategy for a much more resilient and low-carbon development model."
"We will do so, despite the limitations imposed on us by the recrudescent blockade of the United States government."
Towards the end of his speech, the Cuban President brought up the Earth Summit, held in 1992, where the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, ended by warning: "Tomorrow it will be too late to do what we should have done a long time ago".
The leader of the Greater Antilles shared a phrase of timely warning: "That tomorrow is already today, and the clock is ticking". (Taken from the website of the Presidency)
