Cuba and the U.S.A. Hold Exchanges on Environmental Issues

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 30 (acn) Representatives of Cuba and the United States held in the Cuban capital -for two days- the third working meeting on environmental issues, especially the care and sustainable management of marine biodiversity.

In a press release by the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) it was informed that on June 29 and 30 a working meeting between Cuban and U.S. officials was held in Havana, with a view to increasing cooperation actions of common interest that contribute to the implementation of the joint declaration between Cuba and the U.S. for environmental protection, signed in Washington D.C., on November 24, 2015.
Josefina Vidal, director general of the United States Office of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, through her account on the social network Twitter, shared images of the meeting in which she participated and that took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean nation.
Ambassador David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries of the State Department, headed the U.S. delegation, which was also composed of other representatives of the State Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce of that country.
The Cuban delegation was headed by Doctor of Sciences Jose Fidel Santana, Deputy Minister of CITMA, and included other representatives of the Ministry, such as the Environment Agency, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The talks made it possible to define specific initiatives to implement actions in the fields of protection and sustainable management of marine biodiversity and the reduction of coastal vulnerability, through exchanges of scientific information and the development of joint activities.
The U.S. delegation also visited areas of the Zapata Swamp National Park, an important component of the National System of Protected Areas in Cuba, and knew of the works that for several years have been carried out in this wetland and associated marine areas, in terms of conservation and sustainable management.
The two parties expressed their willingness to continue advancing in the development of mutually advantageous cooperation.
On November 24, 2015, the Joint Declaration on Environmental Issues was signed at the headquarters of the US State Department, which establishes cooperation in environmental protection, a common interest between the two countries to develop bilateral cooperation.
That document gives special significance to the sustainable management of natural resources and shared ecosystems, in particular marine biodiversity; treatment of causes and effects of climate change; and measures to reduce risk of natural disasters, which are essential in reducing vulnerabilities affecting both nations.
This was the second bilateral instrument on environmental issues that was signed between the two governments, after the signing in November in Havana of a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in the Conservation and Management of Marine Protected Areas.