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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on all the people of the world Monday to make a stand at the upcoming climate change talks in Paris to pressure world leaders to take decisive action to save the planet.
“Only the people will save the planet … We cannot trust in the oligarchy or in the International Monetary Fund,” Maduro said during the closing ceremony of the People's Summit on Climate Change in Bolivia.
President Maduro said that the upcoming U.N. sponsored climate change summit in Paris “should be a summit of the organized people in defense of the planet” while calling for leaders to develop of system of rights for Mother Earth.
“May the voice of the people be heard in Paris!” exclaimed Maduro to loud cheers and applause from the large crowd.
The Venezuelan head of state also warned that powerful countries will try to take advantage of the climate talks and interest in a so-called green economy to reinforce the international system that condemns countries to poverty and underdevelopment.
“Behind the mask there's an even uglier monster. They want to turn the green economy into an instrument to recolonize us,” warned Maduro.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spoke after Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa at the conclusion of the conference, on Monday.
The aim of the conference was to give people affected by climate change a say on how to shape the future environmental policy.
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Three Latin American presidents dance on stage to mark end of #climatesummit #bolivia @telesurenglish #environment pic.twitter.com/C38VbDUTXH
— Dimitri O'Donnell (@dimitri_teleSUR)
October 12, 2015
RELATED: Bolivia's Climate Summit Opens with Cheers and Calls for Action
Social movements and representatives from more than 40 countries attended the conference in Bolivia, determined to have their say.
Activists and ordinary people everywhere, huddled in groups, meeting wherever they could to come up with practical solutions and real plans to address the climate “crisis.”
“Droughts. Fires. Floods. Landslides. Glaciers melting. Oceans turning to acid. Mother Earth is giving us a warning,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the conference on Saturday. “We must listen. And we must act.”
The focus is slowly turning to the next big U.N. climate change conference in Paris, which begins late November.
RELATED: The People's Conference on Climate Change: What to Expect
The personal stories, proposals and practical solutions that emerge from Cochabamba will be submitted for consideration at the event in Paris.
Noting that “a transformative deal in Paris” was in sight, the U.N. leader concluded by saying that developed countries must meet their pledge of US$100 billion a year to fight climate change by 2020.
Before Ban left, President Morales presented the secretary-general with a 10-point plan to defend Mother Earth to be discussed at the U.N. Paris summit.
One of the Bolivian proposals is to create an Environmental International Court of Justice "to make it easier for countries to fulfill their international commitments to climate change.”
WATCH: Morales, Ban Discuss Climate Change and Poverty
