Chile's New Action Plan on Climate Change

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001096 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG PGOV CI TRGY SUBJECT: Chile's New Action Plan on Climate Change ¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Michelle Bachelet announced December 4th a National Action Plan on Climate Change, the culmination of a three-year process conducted by the National Commission for the Environment (CONAMA). The plan is divided into three categories: adapting to the effects of climate change, ways to mitigate climate change and how to increase Chile's capacity to address the problem. It replaces the existing National Strategy on Climate Change and makes specific institutions responsible for each priority with a precise timeframe for completion. Reaction from experts was mixed. Some consider the plan an improvement from the previous strategy. Some deem the plan's measures incomplete and suggest incorporating the private sector and civil society. Chilean Minister of the Environment Ana Lya Uriarte will present the plan at the XIV UN Conference on Climate Change the second week of December. End Summary A Plan for Action -------------- ¶2. (U) The National Action Plan on Climate Change was created by CONAMA under the supervision of Minister Uriarte. The goal of the document is to outline concrete steps the GOC's environmental institutions, academic establishments, and non-governmental organizations are expected to take to address climate change and its adverse effects. President Bachelet believes this plan will demonstrate that less developed nations should also take action to contribute to efforts to diminish greenhouse gas emissions. ¶3. (U) The content of the plan is the result of a series of climate change diagnostic studies conducted by CONAMA as early as 2005. The studies indicate that, if the current level of emissions does not change by 2100 the average temperature in Chile will rise four degrees, levels of rain and snow will decrease, and the oceans' temperature will continue to drop. These alterations are expected to negatively impact agriculture, forests, animal life, and hydroelectric power generation. [NOTE: Chile's electricity matrix is dominated by hydropower plants.] ¶4. (U) The document is designed to address the three objectives outlined in the previous Climate Change National Strategy approved in January 2006: adapting to the effects of climate change, ways to mitigate climate change, and how to increase Chile's capacity to address the problem. The plan sorts 16 specific sets of priorities into the three categories and outlines the specific government entities that will address and implement each of the priorities. A specific timeframe for completion is also included for each area. Adapting to the Effects of Climate Change -------------- ¶5. (U) The GOC identified hydro resources, food production, urban and coastal infrastructure, and energy supply as the four areas most susceptible to climate change. In order to protect these resources, CONAMA studied several vulnerability scenarios that evaluated the environmental, socio-economic, and sanitary impacts of climate change. The information gathered from the studies served to create a series of steps at the national and regional level intended to help Chile adapt to the effects of climate change. ¶6. (U) The most relevant short-term measures in this category include: 1. Strengthening and creating new capacities to face yellow fever, dengue, and malaria, 2. Creating a water investigation center in the Atacama Region, 3. Constructing a glacier inventory, installing a monitoring network and generating a glacier management strategy, 4. Constructing desalination plants to provide potable water to the Norte Grande cities, 5. Constructing new dams to increase the amount of watered surface by 50 percent, 6. Improving the nation's capability to predict and respond to hydrologic emergencies by repairing and repositioning bridges (240 by 2014), building new bridges (180 by 2020),and increasing the availability of bridges, 7. Developing new approaches to address climate change in the agricultural and forestry sector. Ways to Mitigate Climate Change -------------- ¶7. (U) The plan also discusses the need to reduce the Chilean economy's dependence on coal, contribute to a path of sustainable development, and join global efforts to prevent the effects of climate change. This objective provides guidance on how to mitigate the impact of national emissions by identifying tangible steps to reduce them and improve biological absorption of coal in regions that rely on agricultural, mining, and transportation industries. ¶8. (U) The GOC plans to mitigate climate change by calling on specific environmental institutions to: 1. Take advantage of the bioenergy potential from agrarian and cattle residue, 2. Create and implement partnerships to study second-generation biofuels production, 3. Utilize the state's loan guarantees to promote investment in renewable energies, 4. Install thermal solar systems in public, commercial industrial, and residential sectors, 5. Create a center for renewable energy, 6. Implement a Chilean biofuels policy, 7. Establish annual levels of emissions for the copper mining industry, 8. Determine the amount of greenhouse gasses generated by the agrarian and cattle sectors, 9. Design a labeling system for new vehicles identifying levels of carbon dioxide emission, 10. Develop incentives to use more energy efficient vehicles such as hybrid and electric cars, 11. Provide the infrastructure and safety features needed to encourage bicycles as a primary mode of transportation. Increasing Chile's Capability to Address the Problem -------------- -------------- ¶9. (U) The document discusses the importance of educating its citizens on general environmental issues and particularly those related to climate change. This segment of the plan acknowledges a need to enhance the quality and accessibility to information related to this issue. The last objective outlines several steps to improve the accuracy of the information the public and private sector use for decision-making. The plan specifically calls for a National Educational and Awareness Climate Change Plan. Reaction from Academia -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Juan Carlos Castilla, an ecologist from the Universidad Catolica, told E/Pol officer that the GOC's move from a National Strategy to a National Plan as a step in the right direction. He believes the plan contains useful diagnostic information, provides specific consequences from Chile's emissions, and presents a clear course of action for the next four years with measurable objectives. Castilla believes the plan falls short in addressing behavioral changes. He would prefer a document that contains a more detailed educational plan (beyond the current measures) and provides guidance on the topic to schools for the next 10 to 15 years. View from a Climate Change Expert -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Eduardo Zanhueza, climate change expert and advisor to the UN Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLC/CEPAL) expressed concern to us that the document does not explicitly mention a role for either the private sector or civil society. Both are involved and impacted by the proposed measures. The plan does not exclude these entities from participating in the mitigation process yet Zanhueza fears that without clear guidelines their involvement will not be guaranteed which would weaken Chile's efforts to reduce emissions. Chile's Environmental Commitment on the Global Stage -------------- -------------- ¶12. (U) A Chilean delegation will present the action plan to the 192 nations expected at the XIV UN Conference on Climate Change hosted in Poznan, Poland. Minister Uriarte plans to encourage other countries to continue to engage in environmental negotiations under the guidance of the UN. She will reiterate Bachelet's commitment to mitigating climate change. Uriarte also plans to ask industrial countries to pay for additional studies in the field and implementing green technology in developing countries. Comment -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The 2008-2012 Chilean National Action Plan on Climate Change is a comprehensive initiative with suggested concrete steps. The document covers a four-year period, which could minimize the impact of Chile's presidential elections on the implementation of the plan (December 2009). The Action Plan makes specific agencies responsible for each of its measures but fails to outline how the GOC plans to enforce the actions listed. Bachelet announced funds will be provided for each of the plan's objectives yet the document only lists specific figures for a limited number of measures (approximately 412 million dollars. SIMONS