Venezuela

Mr. President,

We welcome the statement made by the distinguished Permanent Representative of Yemen on

We believe that the lack of compliance by the developed countries with the internationally agreed
development goals and particularly the Millennium Development Goals is a major cause that helps
us to understand the problems we have today. Asymmetrical relations which continue to dominate
the North-South relations and the continuing systemic disruptions that have been happening in
recent times, like the food crisis, the effects of climate change, and the economic and financial crisis
have contributed to this decisively.

This shows the wear of a model of domination, which is accompanied by the anti-values that place
the market, selfishness and profits ahead of human beings and the common good. What humanity
needs is not for developed countries to adapt as a slogan or label what they have been calling a
Green Economy (also called green capitalism), which according to the version they are spreading,
appears as a way to justify the new policies of the market. Given the disrepute into which the
Washington Consensus has fallen,
a new way to present neoliberal policies has been devised to justify new conditionalities. Obviously
we are not against the policies of recycling that stimulate the generation of organic products, etc.
But these measures cannot be used as a cover to deepen neoliberal globalization, which promotes,
among other things, the dominance of financial speculation on the real economy and therefore the
production of goods and services to meet the needs of the millions of hungry people on earth.

People need tools other than those imposed by market forces which for decades have kept our
countries in a perpetual economic and social crisis, and whose consequences are none other than
the increase in poverty to shocking levels. Governments have been forced to impose pro-cyclical
policies based on budget cuts, which has affected spending on health, education and social security.
It has also reduced the weight of direct taxes and increased taxes. Also the promotion of free trade
has affected local production for the benefit of the international market monopolized by large
transnational corporations The reform that the world demands is not one trying to simply put a
green label in order to justify the privatization of our natural resources and overall biodiversity and
all assets of the planet.

We are facing a new offensive, taking advantage of the ecological crisis, created precisely by the
developed countries to try to complete the privatization process of the planet. Again it raises the
argument that environmental problems would be solved by placing price to all manifestations of
nature. This would lead to further deepening the causes of the ecological crisis. We know that the
root of the current problems has to do with the transit of non-capitalist societies to industrial
society. In non-capitalist societies nature is sacred and deserves respect. In capitalist societies,
nature has been turned into merchandise. As humans have also been turned into things and objects.
So that is why it is denied the right to life, the right not to be polluted, to be healthy provider of
earthly goods, which nature has always provided for free and plentiful. We have lived and suffered
the
consequences of having attempted to solve the social and environmental problems through policies
based on market prices.

What the global crisis which we live is demonstrating, is the need for greater involvement of the
state and governments to address the crisis. Above all, they should strengthen the power of society,
the power of the people and reducing poverty to bring it to zero.

There are several things that developed countries should do. First they must take historical
responsibility for the destruction of the ecosystems, they must recognize that to address the
problems created by climate change there are common but differentiated responsibilities. Also in
this area they have the main responsibility. They must recognize their obligations regarding the
transfer of financial resources and technologies to developing countries to allow for the adaptation
to the climate change process, without sacrificing the peoples and working to combat poverty.

This implies, inter alia, that developed countries should undertake a profound redirection of
production to radically alter patterns of production and consumption. They should stop using
delaying tactics which continue to maintain the leading causes of the processes that are driving the
planet towards collapse.
On the contrary, they work to deepen neoliberal globalization approaches by trying to take over
terms such as the Green Economy. This is a very serious approach which scientists,
environmentalists, public officials and social movements have been developing. In trying to
appropriate it they portray a defense of the environment that they permanently deny in the
international negotiations which aim to reduce the causes and correct the consequences of climate
change.

Meanwhile, they try to portray themselves as green they develop another aspect of their policy
aimed at reducing the role of multilateral organizations. In particular, there is a campaign to weaken
the United Nations and particularly the role of the Member States by attempting to increasing the
meddling of the private sector in the affairs of the United Nations. Appropriating the concept of
Green Economics has other implications. They are looking to abandon the concept and policies of
sustainable development and replaced them with another in which these countries are trying again
to put the world market in the heart of the solutions.

The problems for the implementation and affirmation of sustainable development have to do with
conflicts between three pillars. In particular the conflict between economic development, social
development and environmental protection. As illustrated by the events of recent decades,
development has become a growth without social welfare, which is verified by the steady growth of
poverty. Also this growth has been done at the expense of nature.

The international community is going through a process marked by a concept, policies and
experience. It is a process with efforts to make sustainable development. You cannot replace such
process and all that humanity has achieved, for something that for the developed countries is just an
advertising slogan, which hides the responsibility that these countries have in the dramatic crisis
facing humanity and the planet.

Mr. President,

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, will oppose any action that instead of strengthening the
relevant United Nations policy on sustainable development, undermines it; that instead of solving
the problems that underlie sustainable development, perpetuates them; and that instead of
alleviating the social, economic and environmental costs of the consumption and production
patterns, deepens them in detriment of developing countries and facilitates therefore, the recovery
of the capitalist system to the detriment of humanity and the planet.

What humanity demands is for priority actions to expedite the implementation of the Johannesburg
plan of action aimed at achieving the proper balance between economic development, social
development and environmental protection, as interdependent pillars of sustainable development
which could be mutually reinforcing.

In this regard, we consider that the World Summit for monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21
and the Programme for the Further Implementation and application of the results of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development being held in Brazil in 2012, should take into account, on an
urgent manner the following issues:

.- Access to agricultural resources for people living in poverty, especially women and indigenous
communities, and promote, as appropriate, provisions on land tenure that take into account the
protection of traditional indigenous systems of resource management and common property;

.- Establishment of basic rural infrastructure, which means, inter alia, diversification of the economy
and improving transport and access of the poor in rural areas to markets, market information and
credit to support sustainable agriculture and rural development. In relation to markets, it is very
important to support the traditional markets, markets which are not capitalist;

.- Transfer of technology and basic knowledge on sustainable agriculture (including natural resource
management), to small and medium farmers, fishermen and the rural poor, especially in developing
countries, by adopting approaches that take into account multiple interests and partnerships
between public and private sector aimed at increasing agricultural production and food security,
while preserving national sovereignty;

.- Increased food availability and cost reduction through the use of technologies and methods of
crop management and food production and distribution systems that are equitable and efficient,
encouraging, for example, based partnerships in the community, to promote contacts between
people and enterprises in urban and rural areas, while respecting the culture and traditional
knowledge, especially those belonging to indigenous communities;

.- The management of land and natural resources, agricultural practices and ecosystem conservation
in order to reverse current trends and minimize degradation of land and water resources;
.- To facilitate and increase access to sanitation to improve human health and reduce mortality of
infants and children, with priority in national strategies for sustainable development and poverty
reduction, water supply and sanitation;

.- Supply of drinking water and adequate sanitation to protect human health and the environment.

.- To approve and implement policies and measures to promote sustainable production and
consumption, applying, inter alia, the approach that the polluter should pay, as defined in Principle
16 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Always making it clear that this
principle does not entail the purchase of a right to pollute, but a penalty, which complemented with
other policies, should lead to the transformation of the model development;

.- The aforementioned about the transformation of the development model requires changing the
patterns of production and consumption, which should mean restrictions on commercial advertising,
which generates superfluous needs and therefore non-essential consumption, which influences
misuse and waste of productive resources, which degrades and destroys nature.

.- Facing financial speculation and penalized it with a tax, which would facilitate the creation of funds
to fight poverty, climate change and in general, the damage to the real economy and nature.

.- This should be accompanied with greater regulation of the banks and the financial system
generates.

.- Specific actions by developed countries to fulfill their commitments to provide adequate and
predictable financial resources and promote technology transfer and capacity building by the
developing countries.

.- Measures to provide the United Nations with financial resources that are adequate and
predictable, so that their bodies, effectively implement the commitments, programs and targets
adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the provisions relating to the means
of implementation contained in the Plan of Implementation adopted in Johannesburg are enforced.

Mr. President,

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to all internationally agreed
commitments and especially the strengthening of multilateralism and the revitalization of the United
Nations, especially the General Assembly, based on the equality of Member States and respect for
national sovereignty.

Thank you very much