With the presence of the leaders of the Group 77 and China and the speeches of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the G77 and China Summit was inaugurated in Havana, Cuba. teleSUR
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00:00 We go live to the summit of the G77 where all leaders gather in the convention palace.
00:08 We are seeing right now what is happening at this very moment.
00:19 At this very moment we are seeing that the summit is starting, that all the leaders are
00:23 sitting there waiting.
00:30 Let's remember that the summit of the Group of 77 on China has been held in Havana on
00:34 15 and 16 September and that Cuba took over the presidency of the group in January 2023
00:40 and this is the first time that the largest of the Antilles has held this negotiated bloc
00:44 of developing countries.
00:45 And in June, in committee summit of the head of states and government of the G77 and on
00:51 their tiny current development challenges.
01:15 Also with us in the podium Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations.
01:27 Esteban Lazo Hernandez, Speaker of the Cuban Parliament.
01:37 Salvador Báez Mesa, Vice President of the Republic of Cuba.
01:46 Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba.
01:52 Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba as well as
02:01 other authorities from the Cuban government and state.
02:06 Now the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, will give the
02:13 initial speech for this G77+China summit.
02:28 Excellencies, distinguished delegates and guests, you are most welcome to
02:36 Cuba, the land of José Martí and we owe to him the beautiful idea that homeland is
02:45 humanity.
02:46 Thank you for accepting the invitation in defense of the future of the majorities that
02:52 are part of this concept that is humanity.
02:58 As the Cuban Foreign Minister said, this is a hard summit and I would like to apologize
03:07 for all the hardships.
03:09 Cuba is harassed by a blockade that is lasting for 60 decades and all these hardships that
03:18 have been reinforced.
03:19 We also face the colossal challenges that are the result of the order in place but we're
03:28 not the only one.
03:30 Almost 60 years ago it was the result of difficulties that could not overcome them and therefore
03:39 we emerged as a group.
03:42 We are the 77+China and we are more.
03:46 As you may see over the upcoming days, there are many things that are lacking but we have
03:51 a feeling of friendship, solidarity and brotherhood and we have enough will to make you feel at
04:01 home.
04:02 You are all at home.
04:10 So our deliberations should come or lead to actual results in the climate, solidarity
04:15 and cooperation that makes it possible our collective mission.
04:20 The 77+China has the responsibility to represent in the international arena the interests of
04:31 most nations worldwide because of different reasons we preserve the original name but
04:40 we are many more than 77.
04:43 The present 174 it equals two thirds of the member states of the United Nations where
04:52 80% of the world population leaves.
04:58 This summit gives us the possibility to have a collective deliberation at the highest political
05:04 level to join efforts in defense of the interests of the majorities.
05:11 It helps us to conciliate positions in the face of the current challenges for development
05:15 and the well-being of our peoples.
05:18 But also it is imposing questions after almost 60 years of diplomatic battle and the difficult
05:28 attempt to transform the unfair rules that are ruling over international standards.
05:37 We have to recall the calls from historic leaders to democratize the United Nations.
05:44 The warnings by Fidel Castro that tomorrow it will be too late and an unforgettable phrase
05:51 as Hugo Chavez said that the presidents are moving from one summit to the next and we
05:59 are going from one abyss to the other.
06:01 The Bolivarian leader favored meetings that were actually useful out of which we could
06:07 seek and create benefits for the peoples that are waiting solutions on the verge of the
06:14 selfishness, those who have been cutting the pie and leaving the leftovers to us.
06:21 This summit is taking place at times in which humanity has reached a scientific and technical
06:27 potential that could not be foreseen decades ago with an extraordinary capacity to generate
06:34 wealth and well-being that under conditions of greater equality, equity and justice could
06:43 guarantee living standards that could be sustainable for almost all inhabitants in the planet.
06:53 In the member states of the summit and the world we could see forces that cannot be overcome.
06:59 We are more diverse.
07:03 The South also exists according to Uruguayan poet Mario Benedetti because all the time
07:11 in which the North has forced the South to the interest is up to the South to change
07:17 the rules of the games.
07:22 And we cannot just see the light as Jose Marti said.
07:26 With the right that we have to be the majority of the members of the G77, the main victims
07:34 of the current multidimensional crisis suffered by the world, the secret lack of adjustment
07:40 of trade and international finance, the abuse exchange, the scientific technological gap,
07:49 the effects of climate change and the progressive destruction and the end of natural resources
07:56 out of which the life on the planet depends, we demand the outstanding democratization
08:03 of the international relations system.
08:06 The peoples of the South are the ones that have more poverty, hunger, misery, death,
08:13 hunger, curable diseases, illiteracy, human displacements and other consequences of underdevelopment.
08:20 Many of our nations are called poor when in fact they should be called impoverished nations.
08:29 And we have to revert that condition in which we have been stuck as a result of colonial
08:39 centuries of dependence because the South can no longer cope with these unfortunate
08:45 issues.
08:47 Those who raise cities out of the blood and sweat of the nations of the South are suffering
08:53 already and they will suffer more in the future the consequence of economic imbalances that
08:59 were the result of plunder.
09:01 We are traveling on the same boat, although some are VIP passengers and others are their
09:08 servants.
09:09 The only path that is valid so that this vessel does not end like the Titanic is cooperation,
09:17 solidarity, the African philosophy of Buntu that understand humane progress without exclusion
09:23 where pain and hope of each and everyone is the hope of all.
09:30 Excellencies, we have proposed at the topic of this summit the role of science, technology
09:37 and innovation as essential components of the political debate that is associated to
09:43 development.
09:44 We are doing so while we are convinced that the breakthroughs in these fields are the
09:49 ones that will ultimately determine when we can and if we can attain the sustainable development
09:58 goals, the hunger zero in the world, health and well-being, quality education, gender
10:04 equality, clean water and sanitation, solution to energy issues, work, economic growth, industrialization
10:13 and social justice.
10:17 I am convinced that it will not be possible either to move forward towards a sustainable
10:24 living standard in harmony with the life in the planet without these premises and it is
10:31 self-evident that the transforming process towards the achievement of these objectives
10:37 takes into account in one way or another the role of knowledge as the one that generates
10:43 science, technology and innovation.
10:46 The time has come to put an end to international barriers, has put hurdles in the way of development
10:52 and to take advantage of factors that are so determined for the economic balance and
10:59 the social balance.
11:01 I'm talking about barriers that are closely related to an international economic order
11:05 that is unfair and unsustainable, that takes forward conditions of privileges for developed
11:13 countries and lies behind conditions of undevelopment to the majority of humanity.
11:20 Without taking into account these issues, we will be unable to reach sustainable development
11:27 to which we all have the right no matter how many goals we set and we cannot close the
11:34 immense gap that separates on the one hand the previous lives of a segment of a reduced
11:43 amount of the population of the planet and the underdevelopment that is deep in the mouth
11:47 of the big majorities.
11:48 We cannot trust either that we will reach a world of peace in which we will see the
11:52 end of wars and armed conflicts of all kinds.
11:57 Science, technology and innovation play a key role in fostering productivity, efficiency,
12:07 the creation of added value, the humanization of working conditions, promotion of well-being
12:14 and the guarantee of human development.
12:17 We are seeing the greatest scientific technological revolution in human history.
12:23 Science has changed the very course of life.
12:26 Man has been able to know zero space and develop sophisticated machines that automate even
12:33 the most basic processes associated with our existence.
12:38 The Internet has broken through the limits of time and space.
12:44 Technological development has enabled a connected world and reduced distances of thousands of
12:49 miles to a click.
12:52 It has multiplied the capacities of teaching and learning, speeded up research and endowed
12:59 man with unsuspected abilities for improving our standards of living.
13:05 But these possibilities are not within the reach of everyone.
13:10 In this context, UNIDO has stressed that the creation and dissemination of advanced digital
13:16 production, ADP technologies worldwide remain concentrated with minor activity in most of
13:24 the emerging economies.
13:26 Just 10 economies, spare heat and ADP technologies account for 90% of all the patents globally
13:34 and 70% of the total exports directly related to these.
13:40 Apart from becoming tools for closing the development gap and helping overcome the injustices
13:47 that overshadow mankind's very future, they tend to be weaponized for use in widening
13:55 the gaps, upping the will of many of our governments and protecting the system of exploitation
13:59 and plunder that for centuries fed the well of the old colonial powers and condemned our
14:05 nations to a subordinate role.
14:10 That explains why in the midst of the most tremendous scientific technical advance of
14:15 all time, the world has regressed three decades as regards reducing extreme poverty with levels
14:25 of hunger not witnessed since 2005.
14:29 It explains why in the so-called third world, over 80 million children are without schooling
14:35 and over 60 million have no electricity with only 36% of the population use the Internet
14:44 in the least advanced countries and the landlocked developed nations compared with 92% in the
14:51 industrialized world.
14:54 Note that the average cost of a smartphone represents only 2% of the monthly income per
15:00 head in America while the corresponding statistics in South Asia is 53% and in Sub-Saharan Africa,
15:08 39%.
15:09 It is impossible to speak of technological advance or fair access to communications in
15:15 these circumstances.
15:18 The energy transition is also taking place in conditions of extreme inequality which
15:23 seeks to perpetrate itself.
15:25 The disproportion in energy consumption between the developed countries, 167.9 GG per person
15:34 per annum, and the developing world, 56.2 GG, result from the existing economic and
15:42 social divide and also ensures that this gap goes on widening.
15:48 Energy consumption in the OECD countries exceeds the world average 235 times and that of the
15:56 Sub-Saharan Africa 60 times.
15:59 Many of the diseases that are more prevalent in developing countries are preventable or
16:06 at least treatable.
16:07 The WHO in its report on the world state of health estimates that every year 8 million
16:16 people die prematurely from treatable diseases and conditions.
16:21 These deaths represent around one third of the annual worldwide mortality.
16:29 We have the duty to try to change the rules of the game and we will succeed only by mobilizing
16:35 joint action.
16:37 All or nearly all of us are trying to attract direct foreign investment as a necessary component
16:44 of our development and the management of our economies.
16:48 We sometimes succeed in arranging for this to be accompanied by certain technology transfer,
16:57 but we know that more often than not there is no transfer of knowledge or help with capacity
17:04 building.
17:05 This lack means that the developing countries find themselves in the lowest levels in the
17:11 global value change while the research in public health, food, the environment and other
17:17 fields is very limited or deficient in systematic evaluation.
17:24 This phenomenon accompanies the emigration of talent commonly referred to as the brain
17:30 drain.
17:32 That is to say the practice of the most developed countries to poach the preparation and knowledge
17:38 of professionals trained with much effort by developing nations generally entirely without
17:45 support by the richest countries.
17:48 This is a massive drain and a significant financial contribution by developing countries
17:54 to the rich ones, much greater by the way than official development assistance as a
18:00 result of a migratory flow that is devastating for the underdeveloped world.
18:06 Part of reality is a tendency to patent everything, including life forms.
18:14 And this is a practice that swells the coffers of large transnational corporations in the
18:19 most powerful economies and makes the remaining economies more fragile.
18:24 The rampant process of privatization of knowledge contributes to widening the gap and limits
18:29 access to the development.
18:36 Patents are part -- there's pressure on developing countries to introduce laws to protect intellectual
18:41 property rights while conveniently forgetting that many underdeveloped countries develop
18:45 precisely by pirating products and technology outside their geographic borders, particularly
18:51 in today's developing countries.
18:55 Patent applications continue to increase, and even in the midst of the pandemic in 2020,
19:01 up by 1.5% and jumped in 2021, 3.6% growth.
19:08 Health-related technologies continue to record the fastest growth among all sectors.
19:15 In 2021, trademark applications reached 3.4 million globally, up 5.5% on 2020.
19:25 However, it was uneven by region.
19:30 Asia received two-thirds, 67.6% of all applications filed, driven mainly by growth in China.
19:40 North America, 18.5%, while in Europe it was 10.5%.
19:48 Africa 0.6%, Latin America and the Caribbean 1.6%, and Oceania 0.6%, and these accounted
19:57 for the lowest percentage of total applications.
20:01 The gender gap in innovation persists.
20:05 The numbers engaged in research increased at a rate three times faster, 13.7% on the
20:12 growth of the world population, 4.6% between 2014 and 2018.
20:19 Nevertheless, only one-third of the researchers are women.
20:24 According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, white men still represent the
20:28 large majority of those associated with patented inventions in the world.
20:34 In 2021, only 13% of the persons designated as inventors in international patent applications
20:43 were women.
20:45 The privatization of knowledge places limits on the circulation and recombination of knowledge.
20:52 It poses limitations to progress and to scientific solutions to problems.
20:56 It represents a significant barrier to development and the role that science, technology, and
21:04 innovation should play in it.
21:06 It exacerbates the socioeconomic conditions of third-world countries.
21:12 Suffice it to say that in the midst of the greatest pandemic humanity has ever known,
21:17 just 10 manufacturers accounted for 70% of anti-COVID-19 vaccine production.
21:24 The pandemic was a starkly realistic illustration of the cost of scientific and digital inclusion
21:30 which took lives and widened the gap between North and South.
21:36 As a result, developing countries had only 24 doses of vaccines per 100 inhabitants,
21:43 while the corresponding number of the richest countries was almost 150.
21:50 In response to the call for greater solidarity and put aside disagreements, the world ended
21:55 up being absurdly more selfish.
22:01 The World Health Organization has formulated the well-known 90/10 syndrome, according to
22:07 which 90% of wealth, research resources are devoted to diseases that cause 10% of mortality
22:15 and morbidity, while those that cause 90% of mortality and morbidity receive only 10%
22:23 of the resources available.
22:25 In the aftermath of the pandemic, our countries have had to endure extraordinarily complex
22:31 conditions which they are still fighting hard to overcome.
22:35 In top-end financial markets, the nations of the South have faced interest rates up
22:39 to eight times higher than those charged to develop countries.
22:45 About one-fifth of developing countries liquidated more than 15% of their international foreign
22:51 exchange reserves to cushion the pressure on domestic currencies.
22:55 In 2022, 25 developing nations had to devote more than one-fifth of their total income
23:02 to servicing public external debt, which is tantamount to a new form of slavery.
23:09 The spending in research and development between 2014 and 2018 increased by 19.2%, outpacing
23:18 the growth of the global economy 14.6%.
23:21 However, it remains highly concentrated as 93% rises in the G20 countries.
23:32 The resources needed for the comprehensive solution to these problems do exist.
23:36 In 2022 alone, the global military spending reached a record $2.2 trillion.
23:46 How much we could do with these resources for the benefit of the South?
23:52 Achieving universal and inclusive participation in the digital economy will require at least
23:58 $428 billion to be invested in our country by 2030, a demand that can be met with just
24:06 19% of global military spending.
24:10 However, the South remains destined to live on the crumbs that the current system has
24:16 reserved for it.
24:18 The International Monetary Fund's financial support for the least developed countries
24:23 and other low-income countries from 2020 to late November 2022 was no more than what the
24:31 Coca-Cola Company has spent on advertising its brand alone in the last eight years.
24:38 Meanwhile, less than 2% of the already deficient official development assistance has been dedicated
24:46 to capacities in science, technology, and innovation.
24:51 Estimates indicate that 9% of global military spending could finance climate change adaptation
24:59 over 10 years, and 7% would be sufficient to cover the cost of universal vaccinations
25:07 against the pandemic.
25:09 An international financial architecture that perpetrates such disparities and forces the
25:14 South to tie up financial resources and go into debt to protect itself from the instability
25:21 that the system itself generates that enlarges the pockets of the rich at the expense of
25:25 the reserves of the poorest, 80%, is without a doubt an architecture that is amenable to
25:33 the process of our nations.
25:35 It must be demolished if we really want to work for the development of the great mass
25:40 of nations gathered here.
25:43 Your Excellencies, It must be a priority to abolish once and for all the research paradigms
25:50 that are specific to the cultural environments and perspectives of the North, and that deprive
25:55 the international scientific community of considerable intellectual capital.
26:01 This trend poses a premise for our nations, the urgency of restoring confidence in the
26:07 most dynamic element of our societies, the human being and his/her capacity of creation.
26:15 In these endeavors, capacity building is key to fulfilling the promise of science, technology,
26:22 and innovation for sustainable development.
26:27 We recognize in this regard the merit of the Global Development Initiative promoted by
26:34 the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping.
26:38 This is an inclusive proposal consistent with the need for a new, just, and equitable international
26:46 order, which rightly places knowledge-based development at the center of the priorities
26:52 of the international system where it actually belongs.
26:56 Even though Cuba is a developing country bounded by great economic difficulties, it has scientific
27:03 capabilities that should not be underestimated, and that are part of the legacy of the historical
27:08 leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who with foresight identified this field as
27:15 a mainstream of development.
27:17 We have a government management system based on science and innovation, which has become
27:23 an important strength for the preservation of our sovereignty, the best expression of
27:28 which was the creation of our own vaccines against COVID-19.
27:34 However, for Cuba, linking knowledge to the solution of development problems is a titanic
27:41 task, since such efforts are to be made in the midst of an entrenched economic, commercial,
27:48 and financial blockade that translates into significant resource limitations.
27:53 Just to name one example, by political decision of the United States government, many websites
28:00 related to knowledge and science are specifically blocked for Cuban researchers.
28:07 This is not an occasion for me to dwell on the impact of the criminal U.S. blockade and
28:14 what it has on our economy, our scientific, technical process, and our development, with
28:19 an obvious humanitarian cost.
28:22 However, I must identify it as a major obstacle, despite which, due to our strong political
28:28 will, Cuba has been able to achieve indisputable results in science and innovation.
28:35 I invite you to discuss during this day the challenges of our nations of development,
28:40 the injustices that exclude us from global process, but also the value of our unity and
28:46 our rich store of knowledge.
28:50 Let us focus on reflections on the pursuit of consensus, strategies, tactics, and ways
28:56 of coordination.
28:58 Let us put on the table all our assets.
29:02 Let us maximize synergies.
29:04 Let us show the value and expertise of the thousands to those who seek to present us
29:09 as an amorphous mass seeking charity or handouts.
29:14 Let us remember that many of the unique nations represented by the G77 and China wrote impressive
29:20 pages of creativity and heroism in human history before colonization and plunder impoverished
29:29 the destinies of a number of them.
29:34 Let us recover that foreign spirit, traditional knowledge, creative thinking, and collective
29:41 wisdom.
29:43 Let us fight for a right to development, which is also the right to exist as a species.
29:49 Only then will we be in a position to participate in the scientific technical revolution on
29:54 an equal footing.
29:56 Only then will we be able to occupy the place that is rightfully ours in the world in which
30:01 they try to relegate us to the condition of mere contributors to wealth to minorities.
30:07 Let us fulfill together the honorable mission of integrating and improving this world, making
30:13 it fairer and more rational without the permanent threat of extinction overshadowing our dreams.
30:20 Excellency, 23 years ago at a meeting like this one, the historical leader of the Cuban
30:26 Revolution, Fidel Castro, asserted, and I quote, "As for the Group of 77, this is not
30:33 the time for begging from the developed countries or for submission, defeating or enacting divisions.
30:40 This is the time to rescue back our fighting spirit, our unity and cohesion in defending
30:46 our demands."
30:47 Fifty years ago, we were promised that one day there would no longer be a gap between
30:53 developed and underdeveloped countries.
30:55 We were promised bread and justice, but today we have less and less bread and more injustice."
31:03 The typicality of these words can be construed as a defeat in terms of what this group aimed
31:10 for and failed to achieve.
31:12 I ask you to take it as a confirmation of the long road we have traveled together and
31:18 of all the rights we have to demand the overdue changes in tribute to those who believed and
31:25 laid the foundations in the name of the people who we represent.
31:29 Let us see that their voices and demands are respected.
31:33 There are more of us and we shall triumph.
31:36 Thank you.
31:37 [Applause]
31:38 I have the honor to give the floor to His Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary General
31:57 of the United Nations Organization.
32:01 [Applause]
32:04 Your Excellency, Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, friends all, it is a
32:18 pleasure for me to be here with you in the historical Havana.
32:23 I congratulate Cuba for its successful chairmanship of the G77, and I thank the warm welcome and
32:34 hospitality they have provided.
32:36 Excellencies, almost 50 years ago, a group of nations signed the foundational document
32:46 of the G77, the joint declaration of the 77 developing countries.
32:55 The founders declared united in their decision to remedy, and I quote, "centuries of injustice
33:06 and abandonment."
33:09 In today's world, these functions continue to be as important as it was then.
33:17 Its members are the engine of sustainable development.
33:22 In the last decades, their countries have brought many people out of poverty, and the
33:31 United Nations has been seeking global solutions and promoting solidarity.
33:37 But now we are facing a number of world crises.
33:43 Poverty is increasing.
33:45 Hunger is greater.
33:49 Climates have soared, and climatic disasters are increasingly more frequent.
33:58 The systems and the global frameworks have failed.
34:03 The conclusion is clear.
34:05 The world is failing the developing countries.
34:11 Excellencies.
34:12 We need to ensure good governance, mobilize resources, and prioritize sustainable development.
34:21 But we need global action that respects national ownership to build an international system
34:28 that upholds human rights and works in your interests at all levels.
34:34 And that requires the G77+ China using its voice to fight for a world that works for
34:41 all.
34:42 Excellencies.
34:44 The task begins with the multilateral system itself.
34:49 We are moving to a multipolar world.
34:53 Multipolarity creates new opportunities for leadership on the global stage.
34:58 That alone doesn't guarantee peace and justice.
35:04 Those require strong, effective multilateral institutions.
35:09 But many of today's institutions, particularly the United Nations Security Council and the
35:15 Bretton Woods Institutions, reflect a bygone era.
35:21 One when many developing countries were shackled by colonial rule and had no say on their own
35:26 affairs or on global affairs.
35:30 I have proposed measures to make the global financial architecture more representative
35:34 and responsive to the needs of developing countries.
35:39 And the SDG Summit next week and the Summit of the Future next year are real chances to
35:45 make headway.
35:47 I thank you for your strong support for those proposals and count on your continued leadership
35:54 and backing.
35:56 Excellencies,
35:58 Turning to your team for today's meeting, science, technology and innovation can forge
36:03 solidarity, solve common problems and help to make the Sustainable Development Goals
36:08 a reality.
36:11 Yet today they frequently inflame inequalities and entrench divisions.
36:17 Richard countries who are with COVID vaccines while the pandemic run rampant in the global
36:24 south.
36:25 And I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Cuba for the successful development
36:33 in the vaccines.
36:34 Vaccines have been used not only in the people of Cuba, but also Cuba have been generous
36:40 enough to use these vaccines in other peoples who were victims of inequality to international
36:48 access to the vaccines.
36:53 And Africans in particular, pay three times more the global average for data while tech
37:01 titans amass unimaginable wealth.
37:05 Every global action can tackle these inequalities, secure a just transition to a digital economy
37:11 and ensure that in a new technological era no one is left behind.
37:17 Our proposed Global Digital Compact aims exactly at that.
37:23 It aims to bring together governments and the industry to ensure that technology works
37:27 for all humanity and accelerates the Sustainable Development Goals.
37:32 It is being negotiated by member states ahead of the summit of the future.
37:38 And I urge you all to play a leading role in order for the interests of the developing
37:43 countries to be fully taken on board.
37:48 New rules for new technologies cannot just be written by the wealthy and the privileged.
37:56 My high-level body on artificial intelligence, which includes experts from G77 countries,
38:03 will report this year so member states can consider forms of justice in global governance
38:10 options for artificial intelligence.
38:13 And we count on the G77 to put the interests of developing countries firmly on the table.
38:22 For instance, finance is another era for urgent global action.
38:27 Many developing countries are unable to service their debts.
38:31 You are suffering economically from the lingering effects of COVID, the cost of living crisis
38:37 and the extreme climate impacts that deprive communities of basic needs.
38:42 Unsurprisingly, many of your countries simply do not have the finance to invest in technology,
38:49 sustainable development, debt recovery or climate action.
38:53 The world needs climate justice as it needs financial justice.
38:59 Developed countries must deliver the promised $100 billion US, double adaptation finance
39:04 by 2025 and recapitalize the Green Climate Fund.
39:10 Every person on Earth must be protected by an early warning system by 2027 against natural
39:16 disasters.
39:18 And I hope the upcoming Climate Ambition Summit, focused on credibility and action, will be
39:24 able to drive real progress.
39:27 And at COP28, all parties must operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund championed by this
39:33 group.
39:35 Reforms to the international financial system are gaining traction.
39:40 But there is still a lot of resistance and they will take some time.
39:45 But we need action now.
39:47 We need action today.
39:50 That is the reason I have proposed an SDG stimulus that would release at least $500
39:55 billion US per year in affordable, long-term finance for sustainable development and climate
40:01 action in developing countries.
40:04 That includes increasing the capital base of multilateral development banks, changing
40:10 their business models to leverage far more private finance at reasonable cost to developing
40:15 countries, increased contingency financing for countries in need, and creating an effective
40:22 debt relief mechanism.
40:25 Those efforts are making progress, but too slowly.
40:28 They have been discussed by groups of Member States, from Paris to Bridgetown and, most
40:34 recently, Belgium.
40:37 Last week, the G20 expressed support for the SDG stimulus for strengthening the MDBs and
40:43 increasing finance for development and climate action.
40:47 But that's not enough.
40:49 The upcoming SDG summit is a chance to build momentum, to accelerate action, and to renew
40:55 determination to reach the SDGs, turning warm words into urgent action and facing with effectiveness
41:04 the enormous inequalities that are still not allowing us to make the necessary progress.
41:12 This is also something we want to go on building at the summit of the future.
41:18 Excellencies, the SDG summit next week and the summit of the future next year are real
41:25 opportunities to reshape the international system and international institutions, to
41:32 make them reflect today's realities instead of the realities that existed after the Second
41:38 World War.
41:40 To create a fairer future for developing countries.
41:43 And we all have a duty to seize them.
41:47 The voice of the G77+ China will always be essential at the United Nations.
41:53 And I count on your group, who have long been champions of multilateralism, to step up,
42:00 to use our power, and fight.
42:03 Champion a system rooted in equality.
42:07 Champion a system ready to reverse the injustice and neglect of centuries.
42:12 And champion a system that delivers for all humanity and not only for the privileged.
42:18 Thank you very much.
42:19 (Applause.)
42:20 FOREIGN MINISTER GONZÁLEZ: (Via interpreter) I thank His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres,
42:33 UN Secretary General, for his remarks and for his participation in this important meeting.
42:41 Excellencies, I declare this opening session concluded.
42:46 And I invite you to a break to take the official photo of this meeting.
42:54 Thank you.
42:55 Excellencies, distinguished heads of delegation, we kindly invite you - or we invite the heads
43:03 of delegations to the garden on this side for the official photo of the meeting.
43:13 After that, we will continue with the plenary session.
43:16 The other members of the delegation should remain seated here in the plenary session.
43:22 We were listening to the President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel.
43:27 He thanked the leaders of the country for being at the summit, and he mentioned that
43:30 the problems are affecting the world and the importance of the meeting to tackle them.
43:35 More breaking news.
43:36 Stay tuned.
43:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]