Ecomia Complicada

Cuba (Observance of environmental norms in the drafting and implementation of agreements on disarmament and arms control)[65th GA, Report to the Secretary-General] A/65/125

The observance of environmental norms in the drafting and implementation of agreements on disarmament and arms control is of special relevance and of increasing importance, a fact recognized by the international communitywhen the General Assembly adopted resolution 64/33 without a vote.
Despite the efforts of the General Assembly and international disarmament bodies, certain Powers continue to implement policies aimed at fomenting wars of aggression in various parts of the world, to make use of aggressive strategies that include preventive strikes, to continue to use indiscriminately all types of weapons,including potentially nuclear weapons, and to refuse to adopt commitments at the multilateral level with regard to nuclear disarmament. At the same time, they are perfecting conventional weapons at an accelerated rhythm and are maintaining enormous arsenals of nuclear weapons.
In 1978 the United Nations celebrated the first session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament and that session’sFinal Document contained a Declaration and a Programme of Action aimed at saving humanity and the environment. The first paragraph of the Declaration reads: “Mankind today is confronted with an unprecedented threat of self-extinction arising from the massive and competitive accumulation of the most destructive weapons ever produced. Existing arsenals of nuclear weapons alone are more thansufficient to destroy all life on earth.” (resolution S10/2, para. 11) This statement maintains its full relevance.
The existence of weapons of mass destruction and their continued improvement is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, to the fragile environmental balance on our planet and to a sustainable development for all without distinction. For that reason, Cubamaintains that the only really effective solution that can prevent the harmful consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction remains their total elimination. Cuba attaches great importance to the universalization of international treaties that ban such weapons.
The Republic of Cuba has acquired vast experience in adopting and implementing laws and policies that enable it to conform withenvironmental norms in all aspects of public life, including the norms found in the various international disarmament and arms control instruments to which Cuba is a State party: the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Cuba has a solid legal foundation for theprotection of the environment:
– Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba contains the concept of sustainable development;
– Law No. 81/1997 on the environment established the principles underlying Cuban environmental policy, stating inter alia: “Managing the environment is a comprehensive and transsectoral endeavour; it involves the coordinated participation of State bodies, otherentities and institutions, society and the citizens as a whole, each in conformity with its respective mandates and abilities”;
– Decree-Law No. 207 entitled “On the use of nuclear energy” establishes the general rules for such activities;
– Decree No. 208 entitled “On the national system of accounting and control of nuclear material” establishes the regulations for implementing that system in orderto promote efficient management of such materials and detect any unauthorized use, loss or movement of nuclear material;
– The legal regime governing biosecurity and the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention is reflected in Decree-Law No. 199/90 entitled “On biological security”, in resolution No. 2/2004 of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) entitled...