DEC. 9, 2019

Environment Minister: "Chile will be the first developing country to legislate the target of carbon neutrality by 2050."

Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt said the bill will also safeguard water resources, prioritizing their use for human consumption, given the many cases of water shortage resulting from the drought.

The Environment Minister, Carolina Schmidt, announced that the Government will submit the climate change framework bill to Congress on Wednesday, December 18. This is an important step towards driving climate change action in Chile.

This bill will accelerate Chile's transition to sustainable development, and will institutionalize climate action governance in the State, with the national target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It will also address sector-specific mitigation and adaptation plans that safeguard water resources.

“We will be the first developing country to legislate the target of carbon neutrality by 2050, as the science has demanded of all countries, in order to limit global temperature increases to 1.5° Celsius. This national target will oblige all of us to move towards achieving it and will hold various State stakeholders accountable. The time to act is now," said Minister Schmidt, who was speaking at COP25 in Madrid.

The bill to be submitted to Congress is the result of a long citizen participation project, which involved preparing a preliminary draft that was subject to extensive consultation. A total of around 4,500 contributions were received and many of them were included in the final text.

The bill proposes that Chile must develop a Long-Term Climate Strategy through to 2050, as suggested by the Paris Agreement. This strategy must establish emission mitigation and reduction targets by sector, underpinned by specific measures, indicators and mandatory plans for each sector.

"This bill will contribute to equitable development because climate change is unfair and magnifies existing social inequalities. Furthermore, a priority issue will be adaptation, a priority topic for Chile," Minister Schmidt added.

The law will recognize our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) as an intermediate target on the road to carbon neutrality.

The bill will safeguard water resources, which was a transversal request during the citizen participation process. It will prioritize the use of water for human consumption, given the many cases of water shortage resulting from the drought. The associated management instrument will be strategic water basin management plans developed by the General Water Directorate (Dirección General de Aguas, DGA), which will be mandated by law.

The project establishes that industries will be responsible for implementing climate change actions based on industry-specific targets defined in the Long Term Climate Strategy. They must define the most cost-efficient approach to achieving these mitigation targets.

The bill also establishes the general principle that citizens involved in climate change programs, projects, instruments and actions should have access to information and that citizens should participate in developing and updating climate change management instruments.

The bill creates a scientific committee comprised of environmental, economic, social and other experts to provide expert vision and support for the development and evaluation of public policies. The Education Ministry will be given specific responsibilities and powers to develop a capacity building strategy.

Therefore, both the Science Ministry and the Education Ministry will join the Ministerial Council for Sustainability.

The Advisory Council will be modified to include non-governmental participants and become the National Sustainability Council for non-governmental stakeholders. It will comprise academics, social stakeholders, representatives of trade associations and young people´s representatives.

The Environmental Protection Fund will be expanded through the creation of a new credit line associated with financing specific mitigation and adaptation projects and actions in places affected by climate change. The Environmental Protection Fund can receive donations from private individuals, which will be tax-deductible.