Havana Cuba – This Saturday the summit of the intergovernmental group of 77+China in Havana concluded with a unitary call to enhance cooperation between the nations of the global south and with the demand of the nations of the bloc to create a new economic order based on solidarity and that takes into account the needs of developing countries. France 24 brings you the main conclusions of the summit, expressed in its final declaration.
A single call in which hundreds of voices from representatives of the Global South are collected. This September 16, the G77 + China Summit, hosted by Cuba, concluded. In Havana, the capital, a joint declaration of the 134 countries that are part of the group was adopted with the name of the meeting ‘Current development challenges: role of science, technology and innovation’.
The closing of the summit was marked by the words of the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, who spoke of the success of the meeting and concluded it.
The participants in the event agreed that the closing date of the summit be established on the calendar beyond the event: they proposed marking September 16 as the Day of Science, Technology and Innovation in the South.
1,300 participants from 116 countries and 12 United Nations organizations and programs arrived in Havana, including 31 heads of State and Government and 12 vice presidents. Among those attending the Cuban call was the Secretary General of the United Nations, who opened the event on Friday, in a speech in which he stated: “The world is failing developing countries.”
“Only global action can address these inequalities, ensure a fair transition to a digital economy and ensure that, in a new technological era, no one is left behind,” said the Secretary General.
The Cuban authorities stated that the event was a platform for the union of the countries of the global south and highlighted the moment in which the event was held, as a prelude to the United Nations General Assembly that begins next week. The G77 + China is the largest negotiating group of countries within the UN with about 2/3 of the organization’s members.
Cuba will hand over the presidency of the organization to Uganda next year and assured that, precisely, the next summit will be held in the country’s capital, Kampala. What conclusions did the event leave?
1. The South’s call for a change in the economic order
It was a request that several nations had been announcing before the summit, since they remembered their origins almost six decades ago, when they saw the need to unite to defend their economic interests.
In fact, Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of Cuba and host of the meeting, called it a change in the “rules of the game.” In the opening speech of the summit he assured that southern nations are the main “main victims” of trade, international finance and “unequal exchange.”
They have been cutting the cake for centuries and leaving us the leftovers, said Diaz-Canel.
This condemnation was reflected in the final text of the summit where the leaders expressed this claim to the global north.
“We underline the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture and for a more inclusive and coordinated approach to global financial governance, with greater emphasis on cooperation between countries, including through increasing the representation of developing countries in global decision-making and policy-making bodies, which will contribute to improving the capabilities of developing countries to access and develop science, technology and innovation,” the text states.
2. A commitment to promote South-South cooperation
The document has a call to maintain and foster the unity of the group and also a call to promote south-south cooperation and multilateralism beyond this summit.
In addition, they reiterated the importance of the debate on science, technology and innovation being on the group’s agenda.
“We agree to continue working on the development of science and technology in developing countries by strengthening South-South cooperation, which is necessary to optimize our potential and complement our resources and expertise,” the document says.
A commitment that is reflected in one of the points of the text where the countries undertake to meet periodically “to take stock of the role of science, technology and innovation in the development agendas approved at the United Nations.”
During the summit, member of the standing committee of the politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Li Xi, urged the group’s nations to remain united, respecting the differences of its members.
With mutual support we trust in the future of our nations, respecting the characteristics of each of them. Together we can all bet on global peace and development, Li said to close his intervention.
The constant of the interventions at the event was to highlight science, technology and innovation as fundamental aspects for development. Without these, the group assures, it is impossible to solve the asymmetries that continue to mark the world order.
3. A nod to the blockade against Cuba?
“We reject the imposition of laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other forms of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, and reiterate the urgent need to eliminate them immediately,” states the final text.
Although they did not mention explicit names, it seems that it is a nod to Cuba and the blockade that several of the countries at the summit denounced. During the days of debate, allies from the Latin American region such as Daniel Ortega, president of Nicaragua, and Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, criticized United States sanctions.
The G77+China must promote a powerful global initiative, within the United Nations Organization to end unilateral coercive measures against the people of the world, against all countries in the world, Maduro stated.
The call was also a common denominator of the interventions. Furthermore, Cuba reiterated that the summit was simple and austere, precisely because of the blockade that reached magnitudes “never seen before.”
4. Climate matters, another pending issue
The member countries also sought to make room for innovation and technology in strategies to mitigate climate change. The members of the bloc recognized that they are far from meeting their goals in this matter.
“We note with concern that, halfway through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world, particularly developing countries, are still very far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” the statement said.
For many of the countries in the group, the current economic system also affects the irresponsible consumption of natural resources, especially in the global north. In his speech, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, referred to this problem.
Today science tells us that the main problem of this humanity, that of today, that of our children, that of our grandchildren, is called the climate crisis. That’s what science says, he said.
In addition, he echoed a proposal that he has sought to promote, in his different interventions at global summits, to change external debt for climate commitments.
Therefore, they set themselves the complex task of changing the world order, to generate new models of development hand in hand with nature and the environment.
In line, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva, reiterated the relevance of the energy transition. “The climate emergency imposes new imperatives on us, but the just transition brings opportunities. With it, we can have cleaner air, unpolluted rivers, more welcoming cities, quality food on the table, decent jobs and healthier children.” The south, they say, must be a pioneer of these steps.
5. Mexico, back to the group
In parallel to the declaration, the group highlighted another text which states that Mexico will return to the G77 Group. And that he will rejoin the debates and support, once again, the interests of the bloc after leaving the group in 1994.
That year, the founding Latin American nation joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and was the only Latin American country that was not present in the G77+China.
The Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Barcena, expressed the desire to return to the group in her speech at the session on September 16.
Cuba assures that the organization emerged stronger after the summit. The first test, now with one more member, is to know if its “renewed unity” will be echoed in the debates of the UN Assembly next week.
Source: France 24
