President Luis Lacalle Pou gave his penultimate speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN) in NY, within the framework of the 78th period of sessions and with the focus on the “Agenda 2030” and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
In front of world leaders, Lacalle Pou assured that “Uruguay arrives with a full and stable democracy” to the summit and highlighted that “despite the pandemic, the Russian invasion and climatic factors (the drought), the country recovered the pre-pandemic economy”, while “public finances are in order.”
After greeting leaders from around the world, he warned that “many times the same standard is not applied to smaller countries” and, although he clarified that “Uruguay “He does not come to beg or make exaggerated claims,” he made clear his position that there should be “a system of rewards and punishments” for countries related to the green transition.
The economic direction
The president highlighted the progress of the economy, pointing out that “despite the pandemic, the Russian invasion and different climatic factors (the drought), “Our country has recovered the economy it had before the pandemic.”
Among the milestones in economic matters, Lacalle Pou He listed: “Employment has improved, unemployment has decreased, there is historic public investment in infrastructure. “A large foreign direct investment, which marks important trust.”
To this panorama, he added that “public finances are orderly and the inflation It is the lowest in the last 18 years.” Furthermore, he highlighted: “We lowered taxes and we have made long-standing reforms that were said to be urgent, such as educational reform and social security reform.”
Lacalle Pou’s claims on environmental matters
The president also referred to the climate issue and raised his idea of there being “a system of rewards and punishments” for countries. “From early on, many heads of state have referred to the environmental issue. I belong to a country that has given itself the name of Uruguay natural”, began Lacalle Pou.
Regarding this idea, he elaborated: “Among other things, in the country renewable energy exceeds 90%, we have significant reforestation and sustainable production processes. We know that the economy and the environment are closely associated.”
In fact, he highlighted that the country “a few months ago issued a sustainable bond, which is based on rewards and punishments, depending on compliance with parameters established in the Paris Agreement.” Following this line, he stated: “We are convinced and understand that this same system should be applied to international loans, market access, quotas and tariffs.”
Regarding the scope of this initiative, he pointed out that it pursues “not only the vocation of sanctioning non-compliance, but also rewarding those who have processes that are friendly to the environment, that are sustainable” and graphed: “As happens to us when we are children, the stimuli to improve will surely make nations make a greater effort that will pay off in domestic and global economies.”
However, Lacalle Pou He questioned that sometimes “the sin of doing things well” occurs and continued: “Our country has achieved important human and economic development. Thanks to obtaining these standards, we are often left out of a certain system of preferences, of very important commercial relationship instruments.”
Although he clarified that “Uruguay does not come to beg or make exaggerated claims”, the head of state appealed “to international responsibility so that we act accordingly if we do things well” and concluded: “That means nothing more and nothing less than improving access to opportunities ”.
The meeting of the General Assembly, which will run until Saturday the 23rd, has as its motto “rebuilding trust and reactivating global solidarity.” This is the penultimate speech of Lacalle Pou, since the next meeting of the UN It will be in September 2024, still during the president’s term.
Leaders from around the world spoke before the Uruguayan president, including his South American counterparts Alberto Fernández. (Argentina); Lula Silva (Brazil), Santiago Pena (Paraguay), Dina Boluarte (Peru), Luis Arce (Bolivia); and Gustavo Petro (Colombia).
Source: Ambito
