Venezuela defends oil expansion rights at COP31

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez told the COP31 climate conference on November 12 that the country has a sovereign right to strengthen its oil industry for national development, while arguing that energy growth can coexist with environmental protection.

Rodríguez’s remarks set out Venezuela’s position at the United Nations talks in Antalya, Türkiye, where representatives from nearly 200 countries were seeking progress on climate action. She said the country recognised the importance of combating climate change, but did not address the effect of Venezuelan oil exports on global emissions, according to conference reporting.

Rodríguez also said Venezuela’s forests absorb more carbon than the country emits and described them as a “lung for the planet.” Those statements were presented as her claims; the reports did not independently substantiate the figures or explain how emissions from exported oil were counted.

The position places oil development alongside environmental protection rather than treating the two as incompatible. In one account of her remarks, Rodríguez said a just transition should transform economies rather than shut them down. The reports do not establish...