On Sunday, 19 September, at 3:12 p.m., a volcano erupted on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. Since then, Spain has been following the developments on the island. The Government of Spain is committed to its citizens, who saw the lava reach their homes, their agricultural lands, their farms and their fertile land and have been left with deeply emotional memories whose impact can never be measured.
I came directly from the island of La Palma to the Assembly. I am impressed by how nature again reminds us not only of our fragility but also of our strength. Thanks to science, we were able to plan a response.
Thanks to the effective and coordinated action of our emergency services and several institutions, we kept all our citizens safe. In any event, we are compelled to ensure that no one will be abandoned in the wake of this natural disaster.
Over the past year and a half, the entire world came together for similar reasons — on the one hand because of our vulnerability to a virus that does not respect borders, ideologies or social condition; on the other hand because of a spirit of unity and confidence in science that led us, among other things, to develop effective vaccines for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an astonishingly short time frame.
The truth is that despite appearances, the virus also reinforced inequalities. The poorest regions had neither the health infrastructure to stop the spread of the disease nor the resources to create a social safety net to protect citizens from the economic crisis. The pandemic taught us that we are all vulnerable, but it also reminded us that intolerable inequalities persist in the world and are exacerbated by global crises such as that caused by COVID-19.
Today, for example, Spain is filled with hope as we embark on a new period of recovery and transformation, with a successful vaccination campaign that has now enabled 75 per cent of our population to be fully vaccinated. That statistic is in stark contrast with statistics in countries in which the percentage of those protected against COVID-19 barely reaches 1 per cent of the population. That is the case for a country on which we are all focused today — I refer of course to Afghanistan.
As the Assembly knows, on 21 August, along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, I visited the first group of Afghans who arrived at Torrejon Air Base, just outside Madrid. I can assure members that I will always remember the faces of those women, men and children — today’s victims of geopolitical strategies and conflicts mired in the past, of ignorance and contempt among nations, of the terror associated with fanaticism and extremism, of the absence of a strong State that supports a free society, of an unjust and unsustainable model of development and, lastly, of the climate and health emergencies that we are currently experiencing.
In other words, those people were living witnesses to the greatest evils that threaten our planet. Undoubtedly, we can observe issues from afar and deem them to be foreign and distant, but I believe that we are here to do just the opposite. We are here to provide common answers to the needs and challenges of humankind as a whole.
That is why I have come to this rostrum to make a triple appeal. First, I call for the defence of strong States that have the necessary resources to ensure the prosperity and welfare of their citizens in accordance with the values of justice, progress and equality. That is imperative to ensure an equitable recovery that closes the vast gaps of inequality.
Secondly, I call for the defence of democracy as the only alternative to any totalitarian, exclusionary or intolerant tendencies.
Thirdly, I call for the defence of international cooperation and multilateralism as the only way to provide meaningful solutions to the challenges facing the world today.
These are, in my opinion, the three cross-cutting principles that must guide our steps in the new stage we are entering, in which the key global objectives are vaccinations, socioeconomic recovery and ecological transition.
My political calling began with a lesson my grandfather taught me that I never forgot and that is especially important during these times. It is that inequality ultimately creates only poverty and what is fair for everyone ultimately benefits everyone.
Nothing exemplifies that principle better than the vaccination dilemma facing the world. We are witnessing a new division among countries that is not only producing a sense of injustice but also poses a risk to global health. The fact is no one will be safe until we are all safe. Accordingly, science reminds us at every turn that your health is our health. In that regard, no walls or borders will be able to protect some from the suffering of others.
That is why our actions now need to be both ethical and smart. I would like to announce here that Spain will increase its donation to third countries by 7.5 million vaccine doses. Instead of the 22.5 million vaccine doses that we had previously pledged, we will donate 30 million, and we will continue to augment that number as much as we possibly can.
I would also like to underscore the severity of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region
that represents 9 per cent of the world’s population but has suffered almost 30 per cent of the deaths caused by COVID-19. The Government of Spain has therefore sought to prioritize support for that region.
In fulfilling the commitment that I announced at the Ibero-American Summit held in Andorra this year, Spain has already sent more than 7.5 million vaccine doses, both through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility and bilaterally. Of the remaining 22.5 million doses that Spain will be donating in 2021, the Government of Spain has committed to sending another 7.5 million doses to Latin America and the Caribbean. In these difficult times, Spain must stand with the nations of Latin American and the Caribbean with which we share so much.
We also plan to earmark 7.5 million vaccine doses for sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Neighbourhood countries of the European Union. I would also like to announce that we will contribute €2 million to the International Drug Purchase Facility, which is responsible for the Diagnostics Pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, in addition to the €175 million that Spain has already pledged to the development and production of vaccines in 2020-2021 and our contribution to the Diagnostics Pillar through the Global Fund. Accordingly, we will work with countries in special need of capacity-building to deal with the pandemic.
Finally, I would also like to underline that patent rights can never be an obstacle to addressing the unprecedented global health emergency. I therefore reiterate the Government of Spain’s proposal to resolve the bottlenecks in production and distribution, including through a possible temporary waiver on vaccine patents and the elimination of obstacles throughout the value chain.
I sincerely believe that the pandemic laid bare another very important self-evident truth — that only through the exceptional measures and resources harnessed by all Governments throughout the world, according to their respective abilities, have we been able to avert an unprecedented economic and social catastrophe. The Government of Spain confronted the emergency from the very clear standpoint of the welfare state and multilateralism. We agreed historic measures with our European Union partners and advocated a just recovery based on the fundamental principle of leaving no one behind.
In that regard, I am very pleased to see that many other Governments of the world are also seeking a global paradigm shift away from the mistakes made in past crises. I believe strongly that now is the time to reverse the inequalities and public-service cutbacks that so weakened our societies in the face of the unexpected arrival of the pandemic. That is why I reiterate that there are no purely national solutions. If we are to champion equality as the key to progress within our societies, we must also do so in the international sphere by following the same principle of finding common solutions to global problems, as I mentioned earlier.
In that regard, we seek to guarantee inclusive, equitable and quality education not only in my country, Spain, but also in the rest of the world. That is why Spain recently announced a new contribution of €20 million to the Global Partnership for Education. By reforming our development model to make it much more sustainable, we strive to combat poverty and exclusion in all its forms — above all those linked to child poverty and gender inequality — in Spain and throughout the world. We therefore welcome the historic agreement on international taxation reached at the beginning of July. And from this rostrum, I call on every country to join the agreement and implement it as soon as possible.
We seek to ensure that international financial institutions can provide the financial and technical support required by many developing and emerging economies at this time. We therefore commend significant achievements such as the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, the Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative of the Group of 20 and the new allocation of special drawing rights by the International Monetary Fund.
Spain believes that the Common Framework can also benefit middle-income countries with liquidity problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — in addition to benefiting the most vulnerable low-income countries. We also support the creation of a tool within the framework of the International Monetary Fund that would allow for the transfer of special drawing rights from the developed to the most vulnerable countries, regardless of their level of income, so that they can finance the necessary reforms that will ensure their sustainable recovery and allow them to combat and adapt to climate change and tackle poverty and inequality. In that regard, my country stands ready to
contribute to the best of its ability to such an instrument once it has been adopted.
We must now ensure in every way that the initiatives under way have the greatest possible impact as soon as possible. Let me be clear on this point. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains our guide on the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I believe that the pandemic has dealt a harsh blow to expectations, but it has also served to strengthen the conviction, particularly that of the Government of Spain, that meeting those Goals is more urgent and necessary than ever.
I have discussed overcoming the pandemic and managing the socioeconomic recovery — but clearly the climate emergency is the overarching crisis of our time. There is no time left for denial. It is a reality that is evidenced every day by its increasingly catastrophic consequences, such as huge wildfires, chronic droughts, floods and unprecedented weather events, which are diminishing our resources, dramatically changing our way of life and leading to irreversible losses of biodiversity. Once again, this is a common problem with common causes that demands a common response at the highest level of multilateralism.
In that regard, I can say that Spain, together with the European Union as the bloc of countries with the most ambitious nationally determined contributions, leads by example. One of the main challenges we will face at the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-26), to be held in Glasgow, will be to ramp up ambition in terms of climate finance, in particular in the area of adaptation. We must meet our commitments under the Paris Agreement and significantly increase future commitments. Spain will contribute to achieving that goal by allocating €30 million to the Adaptation Fund in 2022 and will work to make COP-26 a success. The time to act is obviously now; we cannot wait.
It is also time to agree on a new global framework for biodiversity protection beyond the targets set in 2020.1 would like to recall in that regard that this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Madrid Protocol, also known as the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which was a major step forward in protecting the environment and dependent ecosystems of the Antarctic. On 4 October, an international conference will be convened in Madrid to take stock of the achievements of the past 30 years and reflect on the challenges ahead.
Spain has made the climate crisis a top priority for Government action — of the projected investments in European funds and in our national recovery, transformation and resilience plan, 40 per cent will be earmarked for the ecological transition. By 2030, our target is for 74 per cent of the electricity we generate and 42 per cent of the total energy we consume to come from renewable sources. We also recently adopted an ambitious climate change and energy transition law in the Spanish National Parliament.
Only the determination and will of States will allow us to achieve decisive progress. However, we must not forget the importance of placing people at the centre of our decisions so as to avoid a dynamic of winners and losers. The ecological transition requires radical changes that have a direct impact on the daily lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, including on their jobs and consumption habits.
Therefore, in the same way that we are leading a just recovery project to overcome the economic crisis, we must also commit ourselves to a just green transition, which we are convinced is the most effective way to reach new levels of progress and well-being. For example, Spain’s integrated national energy and climate plan foresees that our green transition policies will create 250,000 to 350,000 jobs per year. Once again, what is fair for everyone will always benefit everyone.
Our response to the three crises we face — the pandemic, the economic crisis and the climate emergency — will have a decisive impact on the international political scenario in the short and medium terms. Spain will maintain an active presence and fulfil its commitments in that scenario.
First, Latin America and the Caribbean is a region with which we share very close ties. This year, our Ibero- American Summit will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary against the backdrop of the major challenges posed by the pandemic and the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons, which have stretched the social support systems of several countries in the region to their limit. Spain advocates a comprehensive approach to the situation that addresses its causes as well as its consequences. We want to continue to be the lead actor in strengthening ties between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean, because
we are convinced that will result in stability and shared prosperity on both sides of the relationship.
Secondly, we share a destiny with the Mediterranean region, in particular its coastal countries, that must also include shared opportunities, prosperity, regional integration and social inclusion. That requires securing peace and stability and resolving existing conflicts.
It is necessary to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution on Western Sahara, as established in the relevant Security Council resolutions. Spain continues to champion the central role played by the United Nations, and we support the efforts of the Secretary-General in that regard.
Important steps have been taken this year on another issue that is very important to Spain — the stabilization process in Libya. That process, which Spain fully supports, must continue to be led by the Libyans themselves. The holding of elections at the end of the year should be the priority objective.
Thirdly, I would like to highlight Spain’s new policy for Africa — a continent with enormous potential. We want to accompany Africans in their own quest for prosperity and progress, in the firm belief that their progress is intrinsically linked to ours. Spain is committed to efforts to restore security and peace to the people of the Sahel. I believe that stability in that region is essential to preserving the security of our citizens on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Fourthly, we cannot forget about the world’s longstanding conflicts. We are approaching the thirtieth anniversary of the Madrid Peace Conference, which brought Arab nations together with Israel for the first time and launched the peace negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords. I believe it necessary to resume peace talks and make progress on the two-State solution.
With regard to Afghanistan, we must learn to work together in the new context, especially with neighbouring countries, in order to address the humanitarian crisis and prevent further destabilization in the region. We cannot afford to let our guard down in the face of the real and existing terrorist threat, which already struck a heavy blow in the midst of the evacuation operation. Afghanistan absolutely cannot be allowed to become a haven for terrorists again.
Spain is firmly committed to the pursuit of international peace and security. We deploy our men and women, both civilian and military, to United Nations missions in Lebanon, Mali, the Central African Republic and Colombia. We work alongside NATO in Iraq, the Baltic States and the Mediterranean. We also contribute more than 25 per cent of the European Union’s military force abroad, particularly in the Sahel, as part of our clear commitment to develop greater strategic autonomy for the European Union and strengthen our common security and defence policy.
On 31 December 2020, in the light of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, Spain and the United Kingdom reached a bilateral understanding on Gibraltar. That understanding should serve as the foundation of the future relationship of the territory with the European Union, given that an agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom in relation to Gibraltar is expected to be reached shortly.
That agreement must fully respect the United Nations doctrine on the territory, with which Spain is fully aligned. It must also respect my country’s legal position with regard to its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory. Our objective, in short, is to work towards the creation of an area of social and economic prosperity that encompasses the entire area of Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar.
Defending the international institution- and rules- based order is a strategic priority of the Spanish Government. We demonstrated that one year ago, together with the Prime Minister of Sweden, when we launched an initiative with a group of countries from various regions that were willing to exercise their leadership to support multilateralism and strengthen it with concrete responses.
Since then, we have been working together to realize the commitments made in the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations (resolution 75/1). We appreciate the efforts of the Secretary-General in presenting his report entitled “Our Common Agenda” and we are dedicated to working towards its implementation.
History has taught us that no country can achieve any important objective through unilateralism, individualism or solitude in a world that is increasingly globalized and international. The enemy of multilateralism is extremism. Let us not be fooled by those who, out of selfishness and individualism, would have us believe that the collective causes that unite us are not worth pursuing. In that context, in which the equilibrium of the multipolar world continues to shift, I
believe that the European Union must assume its rightful position of leadership with strength and determination. That has very concrete implications, starting with the need to develop greater strategic autonomy and strengthen its security and defence policy.
I would especially like to emphasize our commitment to strengthening the North Atlantic Alliance and adapting it to the global challenges of today and tomorrow. Spain will work with commitment and determination to ensure that the next NATO Summit, which will be held in Madrid in 2022, will lead to a new strategic concept that will provide the organization with the necessary instruments and mechanisms to face the challenges of the coming decades.
I began my speech with a reference to the hundreds of Afghan citizens who arrived in Madrid on 21 August, thanks to the joint work with our partners in the European Union and NATO. I do not consider that to be a victory; rather, I would like to highlight it as a reminder of all those in the world who remain unjustly trapped, persecuted and threatened by the enemies of progress and tolerance.
Given the scale of the tragedy, our evacuation efforts may indeed seem like a small feat. Yet we must not forget that each person is a human being with their own dreams, desires and capabilities. Their lives are equal to ours, and they deserve a new opportunity to move forward. We should therefore be encouraged to continue working to serve others. I am especially concerned about the women and girls who have played such an essential role in Afghanistan’s development in recent years. Today, the future of Afghan women teachers, lawyers, journalists and politicians is in jeopardy. We must place the rights and freedoms of thousands of women and girls at the top of our priorities, because no society that allows only half of its population to advance and deliberately holds back the other half is sustainable.
I would also like to call attention to the plight of the nearly 10 million Afghan children whose survival depends on humanitarian aid, as UNICEF reminded us. The humanitarian crisis in the country, caused by drought, has deteriorated, and we are on the brink of a major humanitarian disaster. Preventing that must now be our highest priority.
The crisis in Afghanistan has led some to question the way some countries participate in the international arena. In response to such doubts, I would like to state here that the democratic model is the only form of Government that guarantees the defence and protection of human rights and individual freedoms and that that model will remain the compass and guiding light for our action. We will continue to defend our belief that every human society, in every corner of the world, should be free to live in accordance with the basic principles of freedom, social justice, participation and dignity while respecting established law, the will of the majority and the rights of minorities — and therefore the code that supersedes any other nature or identity, namely that of human rights.
Afghanistan is not the only place where the fight for democracy continues. That fight continues on every continent, including in the world’s most developed countries. It is a daily struggle against those who wish to impose inequalities that benefit a select few, those who seek to exclude or blame the most vulnerable minorities, those who incite hatred based on ethnic or social origin, sexual orientation or belief, and those who call for walls and borders that hinder the spread of the ideas of equality, freedom and fraternity.
There is no doubt that democracy is under threat; we know that. Democracy is not a gift bestowed on us but, rather, a hard-won historical conquest that we must cherish and protect among ourselves. At a time in which we face fast-moving history, profound changes to the global order and new paths to growth and inhabiting our world, I ask that we step up our commitment to democracy and participate in a project that has been embraced by millions of human beings and continues to welcome us all on equal terms. There are no racial, cultural, historical or anthropological grounds for undermining freedom. That is why democracy is the only way forward.
There is no question that democracy is the most effective system for improving people’s lives, increasing their prosperity and creating opportunities. In any case, democracy needs no explanation or justification. That is why, if I may, I will conclude with words of a great Spanish social democrat of the first half of the last century, Fernando de Los Rios. “Freedom for what?”, he was asked. He replied simply, “Freedom for us to be free”.