Chile is progressing under a broadparticipatoryprocesstodesignitslong-term climate strategy.These strategies, known as LTS,enablegovernments to define the actions that are requiredin the long,mediumand short termto stop the climate crisis. Theyaim to maximizethe benefits of the transition tonet-zeroemissionand resilient economiesand considerhowto avoidexacerbatingproblemsandseizethe opportunitiesforsustainable development while focusing on the people in their territories.
Informed by science and opportunities for sustainable development,many countries have already made the decision to transition to carbon neutral economies by 2050and have defined their LTSs including the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, New Zealand, Bhutan andCosta Rica.Many others are in the design process including Chile, Colombia and Peru. In many cases, these strategies arebeing used to help lay the foundation for a sustainable recovery to confront the global pandemic.
To successfully achievecarbon neutrality building ajointcountry visionis required
The climate crisis affects us all. The response therefore requires a national conversation.AnLTS that does not consider multiple development objectives, national priorities, and local and institutional realities is likely to be ultimately unfeasible in its implementation.
Achieving carbon neutrality is possible:the technologies and solutionsexistfor thetransformations required in all sectors of the economy.For example,we canenableamassive deployment of energy from renewable sources and electrical technologies such as electric vehicles.Thesetechnologiesare increasingly cheaper and contribute to improving the air quality of our cities and creating jobs.
Latin America and the Caribbean can saveUSD 621 billionannually if the energy and transport sectors reachcarbonneutrality by 2050.According to a recentIDBand ILOanalysis, moving towardsnet-zero emissionsin the region couldgenerate 15 million jobsby 2030 in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, forestry, solar and wind energy, manufacturing and construction.
Carbon neutrality also goes hand in hand with increased use of public and non-motorized transportation, reducing waste of energy and food consumption, and protecting and regenerating natural ecosystems such as forests and mangroves.It is critical to carry out robust technical analyzes and jointly build a multi-stakeholder dialogue andvision of how we want to seeour countries' futuredevelopment.
Chile’sexperience showshow to doa broad consultation and co-construction process
Chile has worked on astate policy to confront climate change that is strengthened with the Draft Framework Law on Climate Change, which wassubmitted toCongress in January2020.This project establishes the country's carbon neutrality and resilience goalfor2050. The way to achieve this goal, the objectives,targetsand sector indicators will be defined in the Long-Term Climate Strategy (ECLP) that is being developed currently and must also consider theupdated NDCthat Chile presentedlast April.
The design of theECLPis focused on a process that takes place throughout this year with more than 80 workshops and participatory activities with government representatives from different ministries and agencies,at the national and sub-national levels, the privatesector(productive and financial), academia and civil society, withrepresentationat the regional, ethnic and gender levels that allows enriching and informing a joint vision by 2050.
This broad process is being led byChile’sMinistry of the Environment, working jointly with allotherareas of thegovernment and will culminatein 2021witha formal citizen consultation of theproposedLong-Term Climate Strategy.
This exercise also has the technical and financial support ofinternational agencies, includingtheIDB,UNDP, UN Environment, FAO, ECLAC, GIZ, the European Union,Euroclima+, GEF, NDC Partnershipandthe World Bank.
Despite thelarge number of donors and multiple activities, these efforts are not fragmented or repetitive. On the contrary, thanks to the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment and the spirit of collaboration of all these entities,these effortsare coordinated to add value and generate synergies. For example, a unique work schedule and logical framework has been created, whichclarifies the objectives and synergies of different activities and their role in informingtheECLP.
In June, with the support of its French Climate Fund, the IDB held 6 sectoral virtual workshops to inform robust strategies for carbon neutrality in the energy, transport, industry and mining, waste, agriculture, forests and biodiversity sectors. The workshops were attended by more than 148 people and the results will be used to inform academic-led quantitative analysis, where robust decision-making methods are applied to identify climate mitigation options that offer greater development benefits and manageable costs for the country.
These workshops are an example of how the vision of local actors can be used as the basis for the development of technical analyzes. Furthermore, the workshops were coordinated with another round of workshops supported by the World Bank with whom we ensured the greatest possible synergies.
Decarbonization and sustainable recovery require everyone's participation
Forall sectors and civil society to participate, we need to create spaces to receive their contributions. Recent workshops in Chile arean excellentmodel to follow.Furthermore, Chile is also an example of effective channeling of international cooperation. Demonstrating that from the design process of an LTS, not onlyisitpossible to facilitatejoint work of various actors at the national level but also the direction and articulation of international cooperation.
TheIDBcontinues to support Chile and otherLACcountrieswiththe design of LTSthroughNDCINVEST's DDPLAC project. Always with a collaborative spirit linked to the objective that we all share,in this case that Chilehasa robust and co-constructed LTSthatcanguideittowardscarbon neutrality by 2050andstrengthen its resilience andimprove thequality of life for all Chileans.
Further reading:
Jobs in a Net-Zero Emissions Future in Latin America and the Caribbean
Getting to Net-Zero Emissions: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean
NDC INVEST Bulletin: ACL in Numbers: Vol. 2, July 2020
Electric buses offer Latin American and Caribbean transport a green and profitable future
Photo: Flickr - Bilobicles
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