Chile

Located in the southwestern part of the South American continent, more than 4,000 kilometers long, and flanked in the north by the driest desert in the world, on its eastern side by the formidable peaks of the Andes Mountains of more than 6,000 m.a.s.l., in the south by the icy influences of Antarctica, and on its west coast by the Pacific Ocean, Chile's biodiversity, although relatively smaller than that of the other countries in the region, is very diverse, on its southern side by the icy influences of Antarctica, and on its west coast by the Pacific Ocean, Chile's biodiversity, although relatively less than that of the rest of the countries in the region in terms of quantity, possesses high degrees of endemism and uniqueness. Many of the species that make up the national biodiversity have evolved in terms of biogeographical isolation, particularly in the central part of the country, acquiring qualities and characteristics that are unique in the world. This specificity, together with important pressures and threats caused by multiple anthropic activities, has led it to be considered one of the 36 biodiversity "hot spots" worldwide.

The loss and deterioration of biodiversity and its retribution to society is a global process from which Chile is no stranger. Despite the country's efforts to conserve and protect its biodiversity (23% of its land area and 42% of its exclusive economic zone are protected), it has experienced significant processes of loss and deterioration of its terrestrial and marine biodiversity in recent decades, both at species and ecosystem level (half of its terrestrial ecosystems are under some degree of threat and half of the 38 main national fisheries are exploited above sustainable biological thresholds, with 25% of them depleted and 25% overexploited).

One of the important gaps that the country must confront to ensure the conservation of its biodiversity and the provision of its ecosystem services is the financing of actions aimed at its conservation, restoration, and sustainable management, on the one hand, and the availability of accurate and reliable information on this financing, on the other. In this context, the implementation of the BIOFIN programme in Chile in the period 2013-2017 allowed the first systematic estimates to be made in this area. The results of these estimates showed that, despite exhibiting sustained growth in the period 2010-2014 (64.3%), public spending on biodiversity by the central government had a low incidence in the total fiscal budget (0.12%), equivalent to 0.036% of national GDP (BIOFIN, 2017). Although not fully comparable, this proportion is lower than that found in other countries in the region that have implemented the BIOFIN programme in the same period (Colombia 0.1%; and Costa Rica 0.5%, e.g.), and insufficient to cover the financial needs of the National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS) 2017-2030, also estimated by BIOFIN at MMUS$943.9, figures that would imply an investment of at least 0.025% of GDP to close the biodiversity funding gap.

Along with these estimates, the implementation of BIOFIN in Chile in its first stage achieved important results in terms of improving public policy and economic instruments associated with the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity. Among these: the update of the National Biodiversity Strategy 2017-2030; the financial estimate of the new Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (approved by the Congress of the Republic in 2023, currently in the start-up stage); the estimation of costs associated with the sustainable management of the country's subsystem of marine protected areas; and the design of support methodologies for the implementation of economic instruments related to biodiversity offsets in the framework of environmental impact assessment, and the implementation of good productive practices in biodiversity for the agricultural sector. In addition, BIOFIN supported the design and submission to the Global Environment Facility of a project for the design and application of economic instruments for biodiversity at the national level, currently underway, which considers: (i) the implementation of compensation mechanisms for ecosystem services; (ii) the strengthening of biodiversity offsets; (iii) the development of biodiversity certification systems; and (iv) the promotion of the application of the Royal Right of Conservation. These instruments are also part of the mechanisms considered in the new Nature Law (Law No. 21.600), which safeguards their institutionalization and implementation.

Finally, and in the last year (2024), through the application of the new BIOFIN methodology (2018) and the taxonomy for the classification of global public expenditure on biodiversity (GLOBE), Chile is developing its second exercise to estimate central government public expenditure on biodiversity, an exercise that will cover the period 2015-2022 and a broader sample of public bodies at the national level. This new exercise is expected to contribute updated, accurate, and useful information for the design of new and more efficient financial strategies to meet Target 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and to significantly and progressively increase the level of financial resources to implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans.