European and Chilean experts debate on the need to establish constitutional regulations regarding natural resources, within the framework of the Cycle of debates "Chile-European Union Counterpoints for the constituent process"
Foto: Jorge Montesinos
The current Chilean Constitution has not been able to provide an adequate response to face environmental deterioration and the consequences of climate change, due to sustaining a poorly regulated system for the management of natural resources and an economy based on the extraction of natural resources. The urgent context arises mainly because the country is highly vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, evidenced by a prolonged extreme drought and large forest fires, the risk of floods and the loss of biodiversity.
That is why sustainability and the environment have been at the centre of the debate organised by the European Union Delegation in Chile, through the EUROsociAL+ Programme, together with LEXEN, the Inter-Faculty Centre for Law, Economics and Business at the University of Chile; the Centre for Future Studies at the University of Santiago, and the European Studies Programme at the University of Concepción, in collaboration with El Mostrador.
The academic Ximena Lazo, Associate Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Alcalá (Spain), highlighted that it is not only possible, but also necessary and essential to establish constitutional regulations regarding natural resources, with the current Chilean constitutional process constituting an unbeatable opportunity. She added that “protective rules for natural resources that guarantee rational, fair and sustainable management must be approved in a balanced manner”, rules whose inspiration should derive from the preservation of resources and be focused on the general interest.
Regarding the Green Deal, the expert considers that its approval has meant a huge step forward, constituting not only a manifesto that should guide decisions in all types of things to incorporate green variables, but which also comes with a battery of rules and with a powerful budget and investment plan, giving rise to the creation of standards, methods and strategies in different sectoral areas.
For his part, Francesco de Leonardis, professor of Environmental Legislation at the University of Rome (Italy) also referred to the European Green Deal, which he considers is “the key” and the starting point where all public policies have their origin, the one which, in his estimation, enables the economic reactivation to be as sustainable as possible. He ended his presentation by suggesting certain improvements and additions to the current Chilean constitutional regulations regarding environmental protection and emphasising that not only classic “command and control” measures should be considered, but also the incorporation of economic instruments, such as public sector green contracting, certifications, a producer responsibility scheme, etc., which in his opinion constitutes the true novelty in the European perspective.
At the end of the debate, Verónica Delgado, professor of Environmental Law at the University of Concepción, who acted as chairperson, stressed that the new Chilean Constitution will be the first in the world to be created after the Paris Agreement. This, she argued, means a greater challenge and responsibility, which sparked the debate between the two academics regarding the incorporation of constitutional doctrines such as the North American Public Trust, or the rights of nature specific to Latin American constitutionalism.
