The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, on Wednesday appealed to the leaders of the EU and ASEAN to increase their collaboration to strengthen energy and food security and the fight against climate change.
Sánchez launched that call in his speech at the summit of leaders of the Twenty-seven and ASEAN, the organization that brings together ten Southeast Asian countries, although Burma was not invited to the Brussels meeting as it is currently governed by a junta military.
The head of the Spanish Executive considered the meeting of the leaders of both regions a political message of support for an international system based on rules.
Likewise, he emphasized that joint work can lead to notable advances in the response to challenges such as climate change or energy and food instability.
Regarding climate change, he considered that it is necessary to take an ambitious leap and that the results of COP 27 were insufficient.
He also recalled that without international collaboration, the transition towards net zero global emissions could be delayed for decades and highlighted two advances made in the framework of COP 27: the creation of the fund for losses and damages, which he believes represents a new chapter of solidarity and the call for reform of the international financial architecture.
With regard to energy and food instability, the President of the Government stressed the need to face this challenge jointly between the EU and ASEAN.
He also referred to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, highlighting its negative effects on the world economy as a whole.
For Sánchez, the world system of production, distribution and consumption is currently in crisis due to factors such as the pandemic, climate change or the war in Ukraine and to alleviate its effects on food security, he defended adopting measures both in the short and long term. term.
In order to protect the global food system over time, he highlighted the importance of sustainability and resilience, for which he explained that it will be necessary to improve food self-sufficiency and ensure the proper functioning of global supply chains.