Venezuela demands real action at COP30 in the face of environmental collapse

Published at: 07/11/2025 03:05 PM

On behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, the Minister of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Yván Gil, called on the international community this Friday to put an end to the hypocrisy and “empty technicalities” that have prevented effective responses to climate change.

During his speech at the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), which is taking place in Belém, Brazil, he denounced that the planet “no longer faces a future threat, but is experiencing environmental collapse in the present time”.

He pointed out that rising temperatures, desertification, thaw, forest fires and natural disasters are a direct result of the “savage capitalist model” and “voracious imperialism” that continues to plunder the planet's natural resources.

The Chancellor also warned of the contradiction of Western powers that, under the discourse of the so-called “energy transition”, promote a scheme of technological and economic dependence, excluding the countries of the Global South from their sovereign right to development. “This is not a transition to sustainability, but to a new form of domination,” he said.

Under the same narrative, he criticized the role of transnational corporations that “act as parallel powers” and violate international law, citing the case of ExxonMobil, which exploits natural resources in a “sea that has not been delimited” and “without any respect for sovereignty or international justice”.

He stressed that these actions - backed by governments allied to corporate interests - represent a direct threat to political and environmental stability in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Failure of a system

The minister also denounced that international funds for climate mitigation do not reach the most affected countries, demonstrating the failure of the multilateral environmental system.

“Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, through Kyoto, through Rio, through Paris... dozens of statements, early warnings, promises and commitments have accumulated. But while documents are multiplying, commitments are being breached. Today we have a world with more poverty, more inequality, more wars and more concentration of power. And all those wars, from the Middle East to the threats in our Caribbean, have a common denominator: natural resources,” he criticized.

In contrast to the passivity of the powers, Gil highlighted the solidarity of Venezuela and the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples' Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) in the face of recent climate emergencies in the Caribbean, recalling the humanitarian assistance provided to nations such as Jamaica and Cuba.

The diplomat vindicated the inclusive spirit of the Petrocaribe program, which, as he said, was attacked by U.S. sanctions for representing a supportive and sovereign energy model, while reiterating that Caracas defends a “social, ecological and supportive” model of development, focused on human well-being and respect for nature, inspired by the legacy of the Liberator Simon Bolivar and the environmental principles anticipated by the Chuquisaca Decree.

Gil concluded his speech with a global call to build a true just and sovereign energy transition, based on South-South cooperation, open science and climate justice. “We are going to join forces to decolonize the economy, technology and energy. To replace predatory capitalism with a new system based on cooperation, solidarity and climate justice”, as Commander Hugo Chávez said in Copenhagen: “let us be able to make this Earth not the grave of humanity, let us make this Earth a heaven of life, peace and brotherhood for all humanity, for the human species”.

MPPRE