Environment at a Glance Indicators

Chile

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data. A large part of the text of this country profile is drawn from the OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Chile.

Context

Chile is a medium-sized country and an open export-oriented economy with abundant mineral resources. Except during the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has experienced a long period of strong economic growth, which has helped reduce poverty and improve the well-being of its population, even though inequality remains high.

While population density is relatively low, more than 80% of Chile’s population concentrates in urban areas. Chile’s distinct geography, with desert land in the north, mountainous terrain throughout the country and ice in the south, results in high demographic and economic concentrations.

Natural resources such as minerals, forestry, and fisheries have been a key driver of growth. With around 45% of world copper reserves, Chile is the world’s main copper producer. Chile is also the largest world producer of natural nitrate, iodine and lithium (it has virtually all of the world’s mineral nitrate deposits, 62% of world reserves of mineral iodine and 12% of the lithium reserves) and a major exporter of molybdenum, among other minerals.

Chile has a wide range of climate and vegetation zones. Many of its ecoregions are considered significant to global biodiversity. Central Chile, including the matorral (shrubland) and Valdivian temperate forest ecoregions, is considered one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world.

Climate change

Chile’s GHG emissions have risen significantly (+28%) in 2010-2019 and decreased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was mainly driven by CO₂ emissions generated by fossil fuel burning. Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) has consistently contributed to sequester carbon, with the exception of 2017, when Chile experienced devastating wildfires. Energy industries (generating electricity) and transport are the main source of GHG emissions.

Energy mix

In 2022, the share of renewables in total energy supply was more than the double the OECD average. On the other hand, dependency on coal, peat and oil shale is highest among the OECD LAC countries. Chile plans to phase-out more than 50% of coal-fired plants by 2025 and the remaining ones by 2040.

Air quality

Air emissions

Air pollution remains a significant public health challenge, particularly in the northern and central regions. Despite progress in reducing emissions of particulate matter (PM₁₀) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂), other pollutants increased between 2016 and 2021, including fine particulates PM_2.5, nitrogen oxide (NO_x), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) and carbon monoxide (CO). Most of the efforts to abate SO₂ have targeted stationary sources, mainly power stations (i.e., thermoelectric plants). The increase in these other pollutants is due to a combination of factors, including continued reliance on fossil fuels for electricity generation, carbon-based transportation and growing industrial activity.

Despite the implementation of Environmental Regulation Programmes (PRAs) since 2016, average concentrations of PM_2.5 remain among the highest in the OECD and considerably above the WHO guideline of 5µg/m³. The number of critical air pollution episodes has declined but remain common, especially in southern regions, where wood burning is exacerbated by poverty, thermally inefficient housing and weak electricity accessibility.

Freshwater resources

Chile’s freshwater resources are unevenly distributed across the country, resulting in stark contrasts for water availability and quality. The country’s distinct geography and climate variability across the territory add to the challenges for water management.

Water scarcity is acute in the arid north, where most of the water-intensive mining activities occur. It is a major challenge in central Chile, where agricultural production and population centres are concentrated. Pressures on water resources are growing due to various factors: rising demand; pollution; and declining, more erratic and unpredictable supply due to the over-allocation of water resources, drought and climate change. The impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle and rising temperatures generates considerable uncertainty about future water availability and demand.

Demand for groundwater exceeds sustainable levels of supply in most regions. As of 2015, total volume of known allocated water rights for groundwater abstraction was greater than sustainable supply, resulting in over-allocation of these resources. Limited monitoring and reporting impede a comprehensive understanding of total freshwater abstractions for surface water and groundwater.

Chile has achieved close to universal access to safely managed drinking water and a relatively high share of access to safely managed sanitation services. More than two-thirds of wastewater receives at least secondary treatment. The share of primary treatment in urban areas hovered at just over 20% from 2010 to 2018. However, nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants is necessary to avoid excessive nutrient discharge into receiving water bodies. This is common practice in many OECD countries but limited in Chile.

The quality of drinking water and limited coverage of sewerage and wastewater in rural systems are major issues. Many rural systems fail to meet quality standards. There have been no effective mechanisms, including reliable sources of financing and technical capacity, to ensure proper operation and maintenance. Technical capacity of community water organisations is limited.

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

While Chile generates less waste per person than OECD countries, its solid waste management system faces significant challenges. Despite high waste collection services coverage, two major interconnected challenges persist: financial sustainability (one-third of municipalities, do not have a substantial waste recovery budget, coupled with extensive sanitation fee exemptions and unclear tariffs) and behavioural change (waste separation and recycling). Waste recovery and recycling rates are expected to gradually increase, as a result of the implementation of mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. However, the country still landfills more than 90% of its municipal solid waste, one of the highest percentages among OECD countries.

Material consumption

Domestic material consumption (DMC) per person has increased since the early 2000, to a level much higher than the OECD average. This is due to the reliance of the Chilean economy on metals extraction and exports. However, DMC productivity has increased faster, and the per person material footprint remains much lower than the OECD area during the same period.

Biodiversity

Chile has managed to increase its forest cover, mainly through large-scale tree plantations (EFI, 2019) but at the expense of native forests (Little, 2023), creating trade-offs between afforestation with non-native tree species and biodiversity objectives. Land-use change, such as the conversion of forest lands to agricultural use, fishery, mining, urban and infrastructure development, continue to put intense pressure on terrestrial ecosystems. Wildfires, mostly caused by human action (e.g., carelessness, negligence, agricultural practices, or criminal intent) and climate change exacerbate these pressures.

Chile is a biodiverse country with at least 30 000 species described, of which 25% are endemic. The central and southern zones of the country are considered a global biodiversity hotspot and among the most threatened due to land use changes, such as export-oriented agriculture and forestry, urban and infrastructure development, and wildfires. Approximately 4% of known native species in the country are classified as threatened.

Protected areas

Chile has made significant progress in expanding protected areas, having achieved its 2030 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) target on marine protected areas, by protecting 44% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), making it a leader among OECD and LAC countries. Although Chile’s percentage of land protected area (22%) is higher than the OECD average (16.3%) more efforts are needed to meet the 30x30 targets. Under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) (Government of Chile, 2020), Chile has committed to expanding its protected areas by at least 1 million hectares by 2030, with a special focus on high risk and underrepresented terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., absolute desert, Andean wetlands and salt flats, sclerophyllous and deciduous forests and coastal ecoregions such as the Humboldtian). However, challenges remain in increasing management effectiveness both in private and public lands (CBD, 2021) and reducing threats from human activities, such as forest fires and salmon farming within and near protected areas.

References and further reading

CBD (2021), Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 Country Dossier : Chile, Convention on Biological Diversity.

EFI (2019), Planted Forest: The Big Opportunity for Forest Recovery in Chile and Uruguay, European Forest Institute.

Government of Chile (2020), Chile’s Nationally Determined Contribution, Government of Chile.

Kuzma, S., L. Saccoccia and M. Chertock (2023), 25 Countries, Housing One-quarter of the Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

LIttle C., C. (2023), Otro Marco Forestal: del 701 a Territorios Multifuncionales, [Another Forestry Framework: from 701 to Multifunctional Territories], CIPER.

OECD (2024), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Chile 2024, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5bc65d36-en.

SINIA (2022), Reporte del Estado del Medio Ambiente 2022, [State of the Environment Report 2022].