Implementing National Climate Policies Through Subnational Climate Action in Chile
Over the past years Chile introduced two innovative solutions to coordinate subnational action to adapt to climate change: Regional Committees on Climate Change (CORECCs for their acronym in Spanish) and regional GHG inventories.
The CORECCs have been developed in the context of Chile’s National Action Plan on Climate Change 2017-2022. They are chaired by the regional governor and involve public entities (regional representativesof ministries, regional councils, and municipalities) as well as businesses, citizens, NGOs and academia. To this date (May 2018), 14 out of 15 regions in Chile have already established a CORECC. It is expected that the committees will play a key role in building a bridge between a climate change perspective and regional development plans, regional climate finance and local implementation.The regional GHG inventories have been developed in the context of the biennial update of the National System of GHG Inventories (Spanish acronym: SNIGEI). After identifying relevant sectoral proxies for the disaggregation of the national inventory into regional estimates, the 2016 Biennial
Update Report and Third National Communication of Chile to the UNFCCC presented the 1990-2013 series of regional inventories for Chile, an effort that is expected to continue in the following biennial updates.
CORECCs
Although the CORECCs have been established only very recently, first positive impacts in terms of institutional strengthening at the regional level and improvements in sectoral climate knowledge can already be observed. For instance, the National Forestry Corporation - the organization that manages the forestry policy in Chile – has started to use the CORECCs as a focal point through which it organizes its regional activities to implement the REDD+ Strategy. Another example of the positive impact of the CORECCs constitutes the formation of a consortium of five coastal municipalities (Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Con-Con, Puchuncavi and Quintero) in the Valparaiso region. Its formation was facilitated by the CORECC and seeks to develop adaptation plans for these five coastal municipalities. It is supported by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).
REGIONAL GHG INVENTORIES
Regional GHG inventories have been calculated and shared with all regions through the recently established CORECCs. Some regions, like the Metropolitan Region (as part of the C40) have used this information to plan mitigation actions accordingly. Other regions realized their net carbon sinks (Maule, Araucanía, Los Ríos, Los Lagos, Aisén). Also, indicators of GHG emissions per capita have been estimated based on the regional GHG inventories, giving evidence of regional differencesand motivating analyses on the reasons for such dissimilarities (see figure 3).
CORECCS
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, DIVISION OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ADAPTATION OFFICE: In charge of the follow-up of CORECCs.
REGIONAL SECRETARIATS OF THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT (SEREMI - ENVIRONMENT): Act as the Technical Secretariats for the CORECCs.
REGIONAL GHG INVENTORIES
DEPARTMENT OF MITIGATION AND CLIMATE POLLUTANTS, INVENTORIES OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE DIVISION OF THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT: Implements the National System for GHG Inventories of Chile. Coordinates sectoral calculations and provides biennial updates of Chile’s national GHG inventory.
SECTOR TEAMS: Provide the relevant information and proxies needed for the GHG inventory andcalculate, in collaboration with the MMA, the regional GHG emissions.