Climate Change in Latin America - European Commission

Venezuela
Land use planning and Environmental Impact
Studies
Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development
on a National and Regional Scale, Law N. 27.515
(2008). The law does not include the subject of
Climate Change, but it requires its activities to have
Prior Environmental Authorisation, it defines uses
and limitations for rural and forest areas and special
protection measures for coastal areas and other areas
subject to natural risks.
Guidelines are being drawn up for considering climate
change in Environmental Impact Studies.
CDMs - Clean Development Mechanisms
Approved CDMs
The sectors that have been identified as a priority
for mitigation are (i) renewable energy sources for
electricity production; (ii) the transport sector, as it
is the main contributor to GHG emissions; and (iii)
waste.
The UCC has opted to implement the MATA-
CDM instrument (Multi-Attributive Assessment of
CDM Projects), developed by the Zurich Institute
of Technology in Switzerland (ETHZ) to evaluate
CDM projects. This formula lays out four approval
criteria: environmental, economic, social and political
(participation by citizens and local governments).
The prerequisites for obtaining MVOTMA's national
approval in its capacity as DNA: i) approval request
letter containing information about the administrative
nature of the project's developer; ii) the Project Design
Document (PDD) in accordance with the approved
international format; iii) a written declaration from
the project's proposer about its contribution to the
country's sustainable development, considering the
sustainable development criteria and indicators for
the national assessment of CDM projects in Uruguay;
iv) details of the information provided in section G
(Observations by interested parties) of the Project
Design Document, including a magnetic or digital
recording of the public meeting or consultation carried
out by the project's developer for the presentation
of the CDM project; and v) Prior Environmental
Authorisation, if necessary, granted by MVOTMA, as
per Decree N. 349/005, or, if this is not necessary, the
Environmental Impact Study.
CDM World Bank Carbon Funds are being
considered.
Currently there are seven projects with national
approval, three of which have already been recognized
by the UNFCCC. Two projects are in the process of
being validated and CERs have been issued at a
national level.
International Commitments
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate,
signed by Venezuela in 1992 and ratified in 1994, Law
N. 4825 Ext.
Kyoto Protocol, signed by Venezuelan in 2004,
N. 38.081.
Legal Structure
The Ministry of Popular Authority for Foreign Relations
– Coordinator of Integral Cooperation, Economy and
International Commerce.
After signing the Convention, the plan to create a
Climate Change unit never became reality. The issue
has become an incidental function of the Ministry for
the environment.
The mitigation actions cited are:
Tree Project: Massive reforestation; Waste: improvements
in waste management; Vehicle pool: the
elimination of lead from petrol beginning in 2005
and the purchase of 30 thousand barrels of ethanol
per day from Brazil to be used as a vehicle fuel.
Mass transport: expansion of the Metro lines in
Caracas, the construction of the Valencia and
Maracaibo Metro, the railway to the Tuy Valleys and
the Mérida trolley bus, Light bulb Project: implemented
by the Ministry of Energy and Oil, consists of replacing
70 million fluorescent light bulbs.
International Coordination
Amazon Cooperation Treaty.
Forests
Forest Law, Decree N. 6070 14 from 2008, Biodiversity
and coastal area.
Organic Environment Law, 2007 (arts. 60 and 80, with
reference to air quality and climate change).
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