On June 13, 2022, Law No. 21,455 (Law), which establishes the Framework Law on Climate Change, was published in the Official Gazette. Its main objectives are: (i) to decrease greenhouse gas emissions caused by climate change; (ii) to adapt to new impacts, such as abnormal tides, temperature increases, floods, and droughts, among others; and (iii) to promote food security, increase water availability and reduce pollution and health risks.

Consequently, the main highlights of the Law are:

1. Emissions neutrality

Greenhouse gas emission neutrality must be achieved no later than 2050, for which the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) will evaluate compliance with this goal every 5 years.

2. Management tools

Different management instruments are established at national, regional and local levels. The most relevant are described below:

2.1. Management instruments at the national level

• Long-term climate strategy

The creation of a Long-Term Climate Strategy ("Strategy") is established, in accordance with the provisions of the Paris Agreement, which shall set forth the general guidelines to be followed by the country within 30 years in order to comply with the objectives proposed by the Law.

The Strategy will be prepared by the MMA, in coordination with sectorial and ministerial authorities. It will include a citizen participation stage and shall be updated every ten years.

• Nationally determined contribution

This instrument contains the commitments adopted by Chile before the international community to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and the implementation of adaptation measures for the fulfillment of the long-term objectives of the Strategy.

• Sectoral plans for climate change mitigation and adaptation

These plans, in accordance with the goals and objectives set out in the Strategy, will establish actions and measures to reduce greenhouse gases and adapt the most vulnerable sectors to climate change.

• National climate change action report

A National Climate Change Action Report will be created, which will contain the policies, plans, programs, regulations, actions and measures with the objective of monitoring its state of progress in the short term.

2.2. Management instruments at the regional level

• Regional climate change action plans

The Regional Climate Change Committees shall be responsible for the preparation these plans, which will aim to define the instruments and objectives of climate change management at regional and communal levels, and shall be in accordance with the other instruments established in this Law.

2.3. Management instruments at the local level

• Strategic plan for water resources in river basins

The issuance of these plans will be conducted by the Ministry of Public Works, in conjunction with other government authorities, and will aim to contribute to water management, identifying surface and groundwater gaps, establishing the water balance and its projections, among others.

Each river basin in the country must have a Strategic Plan for Water Resources, which shall be reviewed every five years and updated every ten, in accordance with the provisions of the most recent amendment of the Water Law.

3. Participating entities

The Law provides that an important part of the existing environmental agencies, such as the Committee of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change and the National Council for Sustainability and Climate Change, must ensure compliance with the Law. Additionally, a new agency is created, called the Scientific Advisory Committee for Climate Change, whose functions are detailed in the Law.

4. Citizen participation

Finally, the Law seeks to recognize and emphasize the importance of access to information and citizen participation. Thus, for example, it establishes the creation of a National System of Access to Information and Citizen Participation, whose coordination and administration will correspond to the MMA.

5. Entries in force

• The Strategy submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will remain in effect and shall be updated to the year 2030
• The Regional Climate Change Action Plans are currently being developed and, therefore, shall be updated to the year 2025
• Sectoral Plans for Climate Change Mitigation and/or Adaptation must be prepared within a period of two years as of the enactment of the Law
• The regulations referred to in the Law must be issued within one year of its publication
• The first climate investment report must be prepared during the month of September 2023, as, by September 2022, less than the 6 months established in the Law will have elapsed

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