Chile’s Environmental Policy: Sustainable Development & Future

Posted on Dec 30, 2024 in Other subjects

Economic Growth and Environmental Challenges

Chile, a developing country, has experienced high and sustained economic growth over the past decade, reaching annual rates of around 7%. Consequently, annual per capita income increased, approaching $5,000 in 1997. However, income distribution remains highly concentrated, with the poorest 20% receiving only 6% of the national income.

Chilean economic development has historically relied on both renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. These resources will continue to be a crucial component of future development. Copper mining remains the pillar of development, although other areas such as forestry, agribusiness, aquaculture, tourism, and services are gaining increasing relevance.

There is a consensus that Chile’s environment is under significant pressure from the demands of economic and social development. The country’s efforts to achieve economic well-being have seriously compromised the ability to replenish and preserve natural resources, as well as air, water, and soil quality.

Accumulated Environmental Liabilities

In the absence of effective environmental legislation, Chile’s economic development has, for decades, led to the accumulation of environmental liabilities. The main expressions of these liabilities are:

  • Air Pollution: High levels of air pollution
  • Water Management: Inappropriate water management practices
  • Urban Growth: Inadequate management of urban growth and solid waste disposal
  • Soil Erosion: Significant soil erosion and degradation
  • Native Forests: Threats to native forests due to overexploitation
  • Aquatic Resources: Lack of adequate measures to protect aquatic resources
  • Hazardous Chemicals: Poor management of hazardous chemicals

International Environmental Agreements

Chile has signed and ratified numerous international environmental instruments, sometimes participating in their creation and monitoring. Once ratified by Parliament, these agreements have the rank of Law of the Republic. Some of the most significant agreements in which Chile is involved include:

  • The United Nations Convention on Climate Change
  • Convention on Biological Diversity Work Program
  • Agenda 21
  • The Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol (Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)
  • RAMSAR (Wetland Protection)
  • CITES (Trade in Protected Species)
  • Basel Convention (Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes)
  • Convention to Combat Desertification

Trade association and integration with other nations necessitate linking economic activity with environmental considerations, particularly in the export sector. For example, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with Canada incorporated environmental issues explicitly for the first time. Similarly, Chile’s association with APEC and the signing of a Framework Agreement with the European Union also include environmental dimensions.

Chile needs to foster a new environmental consciousness based on national consensus around the most relevant environmental concerns. This will enable all stakeholders to be co-responsible for environmental management within their specific areas of competence.

Foundations and Principles of Environmental Policy

Sustainable development provides the framework for integrating environmental policies with social and economic development strategies. It recognizes that growth is essential to satisfy human needs and improve the quality of life. However, development must be based on the efficient, equitable, and environmentally responsible use of all society’s scarce resources: natural, human, and economic.

Fundamentals of Environmental Policy

  • Quality of life for all people
  • Complementarity between socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability
  • Social equity and poverty alleviation

Principles of Environmental Policy

  • Public Policy
  • Environmentally Sustainable
  • Roles of Private Participation
  • Responsibility
  • Sustainability
  • Causing Prevention
  • Gradualism
  • Stability and Continuous Improvement
  • Improvement of the System
  • Accountability to the international community

Policy Objectives

General Objective

The general objective of the Environmental Policy is to promote the environmental sustainability of the development process to improve citizens’ quality of life. This includes ensuring a pollution-free environment, protecting the environment, conserving nature, and preserving the environment.

Specific Objectives

The government has identified seven specific objectives that will guide the National Environmental Management System. The first three aim to protect people’s health and quality of life and safeguard the environment. The other four are essential for implementing the social, productive, institutional, and legal changes necessary to achieve the overall objective.

  1. Recover and improve environmental quality
  2. Prevent environmental deterioration
  3. Promote environmental heritage protection and sustainable resource use
  4. Introduce environmental considerations into the public and productive sectors
  5. Involve the public in environmental management
  6. Strengthen environmental institutions at national and regional levels
  7. Improve environmental laws and develop new management tools

The Government’s Environmental Agenda

The Government’s Environmental Agenda outlines the objectives and action lines of the Environmental Policy in three specific areas:

  1. A work plan identifying commitments related to the seven objectives
  2. Priorities for improving environmental management in Chile
  3. Identification of major environmental issues the country must address in the coming years

National Environment Commission (CONAMA)

CONAMA is the state institution responsible for promoting the environmental sustainability of the development process and coordinating actions arising from government-defined environmental policies and strategies.

Primary Objectives of CONAMA

  • Retrieve and improve environmental quality
  • Prevent environmental degradation
  • Promote environmental heritage protection and sustainable resource use
  • Introduce environmental considerations into the productive sector
  • Involve the public in environmental management
  • Strengthen environmental institutions at national and regional levels
  • Enhance environmental laws and develop new management tools

CONAMA was created in 1990, establishing the institutional framework for environmental management. Law 19.300 recognizes the existing legal and technical expertise in different state departments and the need to coordinate environmental management. The General Rules of the Environment created CONAMA as a functionally decentralized public service with legal personality and its own assets, subject to the oversight of the President of the Republic. It serves as an eminent coordinator of environmental management across different public services.

CONAMA Organization

CONAMA’s highest-ranking authority is its Board of Directors, chaired by the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency and composed of 13 ministers from various portfolios. CONAMA’s connection to the President of the Republic through the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency is crucial due to its multi-sectoral coordination role and proximity to the President, both essential for effective environmental management.

Instructions and resolutions of the Board must be followed by each member, who conveys these orders to the public officials within their respective offices. The Executive Director of CONAMA coordinates the work of these offices in environmental matters.