Green Expectations: Chile Rolls Back The Decrees, Not The Standards

On March 12, 2026, only one day after taking office, Chilean President José Antonio Kast withdrew 43 environmental decrees introduced under former President Gabriel Boric. The Ministry of the Environment requested the rollback before the decrees entered into force, halting upcoming rules on biodiversity, air quality, emissions and climate change.

The new administration has framed the move as part of a broader effort to reduce bureaucracy and refocus on security, immigration and growth – key issues for Chilean voters in the 2025 presidential election. According to the Ministry of the Environment, reviewing decrees introduced by previous governments is common practice during political transitions, particularly given that 11 of the 43 decrees were introduced in the final weeks of President Boric’s term. Nonetheless, President Kast’s administration has yet to confirm whether this review will lead to a permanent withdrawal or a revised set of decrees.

For firms with operations or supply chains in Chile, three considerations stand out:

• Rollback does not mean reduced environmental expectations.

  Even without the withdrawn decrees, environmental policy and expectations in Chile remain high. Firms face strict regulatory baselines and require Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to maintain their licence to operate. Projects that fail to meet requirements risk financial penalties or being blocked, as illustrated by the controversial Dominga mine case. Additionally, many businesses have adopted voluntary sustainability frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), due to investor pressure for transparency, or to access funding opportunities and international markets – a trend likely to persist throughout 2026 (see Verdantix Market Insight: 10 Predictions For ESG & Sustainability In 2026 And Beyond).

• Resilience strategies outlast political cycles.

  Chile mirrors a wider global trend in which sustainability and environmental policies shift with political cycles. These swings increase regulatory ambiguity and uncertainty, as seen in both Europe and the US. Nevertheless, firms should avoid adapting strategies around short-term political shifts and instead invest in strong sustainability governance to remain resilient. Verdantix research reflects this priority; three quarters of Chilean firms in our 2025 ESG global corporate survey cite strengthening business resilience as a very important or their most important sustainability goal (see Verdantix Global Corporate Survey 2025: ESG & Sustainability Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences). Organizations with robust internal sustainability maturity can navigate policy shifts and external volatility more effectively.
  

• Mineral supply chains amplify regulatory exposure.
  As the largest global producer of copper and second-largest producer of lithium, Chile plays a critical role in global mineral supply chains. International firms may therefore face indirect exposure to Chilean environmental policy through their suppliers. Rollback of domestic standards could widen the gap between local requirements and expectations embedded in international frameworks, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Battery Regulation (see Strategic Focus: Mitigating ESG And Sustainability Risk In The Supply Chain). Organizations sourcing from Chile should ensure that supplier monitoring processes are resilient to shifting domestic regulatory baselines, rather than relying on local regulation as a proxy for acceptable practice.

To explore other regulatory changes in the sustainability space, read Verdantix Strategic Focus: An ESG & Sustainability Regulatory Update for Europe and keep an eye out for our upcoming report, Strategic Focus: Adapting Sustainability In The North American Market. For more research on supply chains, see Verdantix Future Of Supply Chain Sustainability.