The executive secretary of the meeting, Juan Mario Martinez Suarez, told ACN that present are scientists, businesspeople, professors, students and guests such as Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and Luc Gnacadja, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Also attending the event are ministers from Angola, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, South Africa and other countries, as well as deputy ministers and personalities.

Gisela Alonso Dominguez, president of the Cuban Agency for the Environment, insisted on the need to analyze during the meeting the consequences for the environment of wars and the implementation of neoliberal policies.

The Program of the Eighth International Convention on the Environment and Development includes five congresses and three colloquiums on climate change, environmental education, protected areas, management of ecosystems, law, danger assessment, vulnerability and risks.