Chile

In Chile, there has been a political consensus for years that climate change is a major national challenge and that climate protection should be carried out in a cooperative and coordinated manner. With the Framework Law on Climate Change of 2022, the country set its targets for GHG neutrality and climate resilience to be achieved by 2050 at the latest. Sectoral ministries, regional governments and all municipalities in Chile are thus mandated to take concrete measures to combat climate change and report on them. With the adoption of this framework law, the Climate Change Division was strengthened within the Ministry of the Environment. This law also mandated the development of national regulations for the proper functioning and establishment of climate change management instruments, including the carbon price and carbon market instruments of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (A6).

As various surveys show, the Chilean population also attaches great importance to climate protection. Invited to public citizen consultations that were held during the drafting of the Framework Law on Climate Change, broad sections of society made their voices heard. The process of public consultation is part of the establishment of the regulations mandated by the climate change law. The observations put forward in the citizen consultations helped shape, among other things, the national framework regarding the international carbon markets under A6.

Numerous ministries are significantly involved in reducing emissions. For example, the Ministry of Energy has developed a sustainable energy strategy that focuses on solar and wind energy in the Chilean desert, which offers ideal conditions for the production of renewable energy and green hydrogen. The Ministry of the Environment has introduced a mechanism for the voluntary market that allows the private sector to voluntarily offset GHG emissions and receive corresponding certificates in return. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance drafted a financial strategy aimed at channelling investment flows into green activities, and the National Congress passed a law to introduce a green carbon tax as a key measure to reduce emissions. This green tax applies to companies that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. As national carbon markets develop, companies can in turn offset the green tax.

A new department of the Ministry of the Environment focuses on the criteria for a just transition to a carbon-neutral and climateresilient economy and is developing corresponding strategies. As measures to reduce inequalities, create jobs and improve access to adequate housing must be harmonised with climate protection measures, this is an ongoing process.

Chile has presented its national regulations for the implementation and use of international carbon markets. These not only provide legal clarity for all stakeholders involved, but also present a well-founded procedure for governance, infrastructure, reporting and prioritisation of activities that go beyond the NDC. The prioritisation list covers all areas of the sectors and even includes details specifying geographical and regional circumstances. The key challenge now is to incentivise the private sector to engage in climate action, despite the high initial investment costs, and this could be done using carbon pricing or carbon market instruments, Camila Labarca Wyneken emphasises.

The national regulations underwent a public consultation after being drafted and were subsequently approved by the Ministerial Council for Sustainability and Climate Change, led by the Minister for the Environment, Maisa Rojas, in August 2024. In addition, the approval of all sectoral ministries was required, as each ministry must take on a specific reduction responsibility as part of the national carbon budget committed to in the NDC. Cristina Figueroa Vargas mentioned that numerous discussions were held with the ministries in order to open up Article 6 to all sectors. All signatures were available at the beginning of 2025, and the regulations will be published once they have been submitted to and reviewed by the Comptroller of the Republic. Approval by the Chilean parliament is not required, as the regulations are subordinate to the Framework Law on Climate Change.

Work is currently in full swing on the development of A6.2 activities in the areas of electromobility, energy storage in batteries (BESS), energy efficiency in buildings and in the industrial sector, biogas to energy and F-gas destruction, and these will be supported by the KliK Foundation. In this phase, communication with the activity partners and the KliK Foundation will take centre stage.