The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, told Lusa that Russia should not be excluded from the Ocean Conference, since countries that “contribute to the problems have to contribute to the solutions”
Asked about the discomfort expressed by some countries with the Russian presence in international meetings since the beginning of the war in Ukraine at the end of February, Guterres assessed that the purpose of the event dedicated to the Oceans, which Lisbon will host next week, is to “make all countries change their behavior”, stressing that Russia has an “important contribution to pollution” and “climate change”.
“Russia is a country that makes a major contribution to ocean pollution and makes a major contribution to climate change. I think that those who contribute to the problems have to contribute to the solutions and, therefore, I think it makes no sense to exclude them from those meetings where precisely it is sought to make all countries change their behavior”, said the secretary- general, in an interview with Lusa, at the UN headquarters in New York.
Ruslan Edelgeriyev, adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will head the Russian delegation at the United Nations Ocean Conference, which will take place in Lisbon between June 27 and July 1, an official source at the Russian Embassy told Lusa.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, said this week that the presence of at least 18 heads of State and Government has already been confirmed, and that Russia will be represented.
“Russia is a member of the UN and participates in the conference”, said the head of Portuguese diplomacy, explaining that Portugal, as host, assumes the rules of the United Nations.
For António Guterres, for whom environmental issues are clearly a priority, the ‘side events’ (side events) that will take place at the conference in Lisbon will be fundamental in deciding the future of the Oceans, adding that its success will not be measured by the declarations that are made in it, but because of the “capacity to mobilize Governments, the private sector, civil society and scientists”.
“This conference is about science and innovation, to a large extent, and I would say that more important than the Conference itself are the set of activities that here at the United Nations are called ‘side events’. The set of events in which a large number of actors, who are fundamental for the future of the Oceans, decided to participate and decided to present a set of commitments and proposals that can have a very important accelerating effect”, said the former prime minister. Portuguese.
“As I say, these conferences usually have declarations that do not solve the essential problems, but allow the mobilization of the international community. (…) Therefore, this Conference, seen from the perspective of a whole set of activities, I hope that it will truly be a very strong accelerator touch and we really need this accelerator touch, because the situation of the Oceans is an extremely worrying situation”, he stressed. .
