With the aim of establishing actions to combat climate change as a state policy, the Ministry of the Environment kicked off a new stakeholder engagement process to develop the Long-Term Climate Strategy (LTCS) from Chile – an instrument that will define, over a 30-year timeline, the way forward in the transition to emission neutral and climate resilient development by 2050, as the science demands.
In the online presentation given this morning, the Minister of the Environment, Carolina Schmidt, maintained that “without doubt, today we live in exceptional times, the Covid-19 pandemic is a reality and global concern. Its impact is added to the climate crisis that we face across the world, generating a ‘syndemic’, with economic, political, social and even effects on our ability to coexist.”
She added that “in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Chile updated its NDCs, that is, our medium-term goals to tackle climate change, as well as our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. But the goals are not enough, we must co-construct the pathway to ensure that we overcome this crisis with a green recovery, which is why today we start the process of engaging stakeholders on the Long-Term Climate Strategy.”
The Energy Minister, Juan Carlos Jobet, also participated, setting out further details on the country’s route to achieve carbon neutrality. In turn, the Minister of the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Ricardo Lozano, shared the strategy that his country is developing to combat climate change.
Strategy details
The LTCS is an instrument that defines the general long-term guidelines that the country will follow across the economy and in an integrated manner, over the next 30 years, , to face the challenges presented by climate change; transition towards a model of low-emission development, until achieving and maintaining emissions neutrality; reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to the adverse effects of climate change; and, to fulfill the international commitments made by the country.
Among its most relevant contents, the definition of a national greenhouse gas emissions budget for the year 2030 and 2050, the sectoral mitigation goals (emission budgets for each of the sectors), and the indicators and goals stand out. Additionally, it contains guidelines on adaptation to climate change, as well as risk assessment, considering the vulnerability of each specific sector.
The LTCS will be based around four pillars, which are Science, Cost-effectiveness, Integrative Measures; and socio-economic priorities. The process of preparing the LTCS considers more than 80 workshops and development sessions in which actors from the public, private, academic and civil society sectors will participate, ensuring that in all participatory instances, the representation of regional actors, youth and communities, in addition to meeting gender parity criteria.
For the process of preparing the LTCS we have received the valuable technical and financial support of various international organizations such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, ECLAC, Euroclima +, Global Environment Facility, GIZ, NDC Partnership, FAO, UN Environment, UNDP, among others.
After the launch, a discussion on “How to face the climate crisis on the way to 2050” took place. It was moderated by Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of UN Environment, and featured the participation of Laurence Tubiana (European Climate Foundation), Marianne Fay (World Bank), Ennio Vivaldi (U. of Chile), Bernardo Larraín (Sofofa), Isabella participated. Villanueva (CEUS).