Environmental Self-Promotion

Mr. Director:

The assessment that the Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, presented in DF about her management reveals a critical omission in Chile's climate ambition: the exclusion of the forestry sector as the primary mitigation tool we have.

Despite the Framework Law on Climate Change (LMCC) requiring carbon neutrality by 2050, the forestry sector—our main natural carbon reserve—is not valued as it should be; instead, it is viewed with suspicion rather than from a strategic standpoint. The minister excludes the world of timber from her prosperous balance sheet. For decades, the forestry sector has been the silent pillar of Chilean climate action. Our forests—both planted and native—capture carbon on a scale that no other sector can match. We are responsible for practically all of the country's net carbon capture. There is no technology, green tax, or climate fund capable of replacing this contribution in the short or medium term.

It is imperative that the ministry explicitly recognizes the forestry sector and sustainable reforestation as a structural solution for reducing the national carbon footprint. These objectives will not be achievable if our terrestrial natural capital is left out of the equation.

MICHEL ESQUERRÉ NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF PYMEMAD

RENÉ MUÑOZ MANAGER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FORESTRY CONTRACTORS AG

Source: Diario Financiero