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Venezuela’s lead climate negotator Claudia Salerno embodies the country’s approach to the climate talks. Photo: © IISD Reportng.

Maduro accused wealthy countries of profteering from pricing As up to 200 countries ready pledges to collectvely slash greenhouse
polluton, and slammed American fracking at a UN summit in 2014 as gas emissions, Venezuela won’t back a deal that bullies poorer
environmentally destructve. countries for not cutng enough, Salerno said.
“Venezuela’s pitching of capitalism versus socialism is a huge Market mechanisms, which allow polluton permits to be traded, are
oversimplifcaton of the problem of climate change,” said Amanda another red line for the socialist country.
Maxwell, who heads the Latn America programme at the Natonal
Resources Defense Council in Washington. Nor will it bow to the UN climate change organisaton’s call for
pledges by October. It wants to assess all countries’ climate plans
“It’s an admirable thing their support for climate justce, but if you ahead of the Paris summit, to see how close they get to holding
deem it and environmental justce to be related, the environmental temperature rise to 2C – an internatonally agreed aim.
issues at home really contradict the rhetoric.”
“There is no deadline for Venezuela. If it happens in December, great,
thaw with un partners but we welcome January also for all countries. You can’t remove
Relatonships with Western partners have warmed since the anybody ex ante because the [UN] secretariat wants a webpage
acrimonious Copenhagen summit in 2009, according to chief complete,” Salerno added.
negotator, Claudia Salerno, who dramatcally cut her palm trying to
get atenton. oil lifeblood
The country’s obduracy hinges on oil’s dominance in its economy,
Venezuela protested loudly among other developing natons that which provides 95% of export earnings and a quarter of natonal
a select group of countries had cooked an agreement, embitering income.
years of subsequent talks that are fnally set to be signed of this
December in Paris. Consuming 800,000 barrels a day of petrol and diesel, fossil fuel
subsidies total US$12 billion a year. With a gallon of petrol costng
“The most beautful thing about Paris is that it will be the end of about ten cents, people lavish it on gas-guzzling SUVs.
an exhaustng process of negotaton since Copenhagen to here,”
Salerno told RTCC by phone from Caracas. “Now all the world is Oil minister Rafael Ramirez has said the cost of supplying refned
gasoline for mass consumpton is about US$70 a barrel. Oil prices
willing it.”
plummeted 60% in the past year to a low of $40 a barrel, and now
But old tensions remain. hover at $60.

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