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Original article: Científicos advierten en revista internacional “retroceso regulatorio en Chile” por retiro del Gobierno de 43 decretos ambientales

Chilean Scientists Sound Alarm in Science Journal Over Environmental Backslide

A group of Chilean researchers has issued a warning regarding the suspension of environmental regulations and the halting of new national parks, signaling a significant setback for biodiversity and climate governance, as reported by Cooperativa Ciencia. In a letter titled «Chile’s Regulatory Backslide Harms the Biosphere», published in the recent edition of the esteemed journal Science, scientists Juan G. Navedo, Hugo Benítez, Cristina Dorador, and Luis Vargas-Chacoff highlighted the consequences of the government’s withdrawal of 43 environmental decrees under President José Antonio Kast. According to the experts, this decision “represents a substantial setback for conservation”, with impacts that “extend far beyond the borders of Chile”.

The document referenced by Radio Cooperativa Ciencia focuses on the decision made on March 12, when the current administration removed from legal review 43 decrees and regulatory processes, effectively suspending their implementation. Among the repealed policies are vital tools for climate change mitigation and adaptation, emission standards for thermal power plants, and air quality regulations designed to limit human exposure to heavy metals such as lead and arsenic.

Direct Impact on National Flora, Fauna, and National Park Establishment

The impact also directly affects national flora and fauna. The researchers pointed out to Cooperativa Ciencia that the process of species classification—based on criteria from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—and the establishment of five new national parks has been suspended. “These regulatory interruptions undermine Chile’s international commitments and threaten historic global initiatives”, they warn in the text published in Science.

The authors emphasize that Chile’s unique geography, spanning from the Atacama Desert to Antarctic territories, bestows a “disproportionate responsibility” in global conservation. With high levels of endemic species (species found nowhere else on Earth), any loss of biodiversity in the national territory pushes planetary limits toward critical thresholds. The letter underscores that at-risk ecosystems are under increasing pressure from extractive activities, including high Andean salt flats threatened by lithium mining and coastal zones and oceanic islands like Juan Fernández and the Desventuradas.

Call to the International Community

The group of scientists has called on the international community, including the United Nations and signatories of the Paris Agreement, to use financial and diplomatic incentives to persuade the Chilean government to return to an environmentally compliant path, reported Radio Cooperativa Ciencia. “The weakening of regulatory frameworks in regions with irreplaceable ecosystems can compromise collective efforts to safeguard the integrity of the biosphere”, the publication concludes in the journal Science.

La entrada Scientists Warn of Regulatory Setback in Chile Due to Government Withdrawal of 43 Environmental Decrees se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.