Oil-rich Venezuela became the last substantial emitter to submit its INDC over the weekend as the Paris Agreement was gavelled through, while Argentina’s new government reportedly signalled that its pledge might be revised.
Venezuela’s plan, which was announced by the country’s lead negotiator Claudia Salerno on the floor of the Paris climate talks just after the Agreement was struck, pledges to cut emissions by at least 20% under BAU levels in 2030.
It said this depended on developed countries fulfilling their commitments on climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.
It included plans to build and expand mass transit systems to consequently reduce vehicle use.
Venezuela’s subsidies mean motorists pay some of the cheapest petrol prices in the world but the INDC included no details on whether these would be reduced.
Meanwhile, a negotiator from Argentina, which has a new government under President Mauricio Macri, indicated the country would revise its INDC, Argentinian journalist Tais Gadea Lara said on Twitter.
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The submission meant Venezuela became the 187th nation to submit an INDC, leaving just eight UNFCCC nations without one, all relatively small emitters.
Uzbekistan, Nicaragua, Panama, and East Timor have yet to submit. The remaining ones are war-torn Syria and Libya, earthquake-shattered Nepal, and isolationist North Korea.
By Ben Garside – ben@carbon-pulse.com
