https://newsletter.mw.creamermedia.com
Charter|Copper|Energy|Industrial|Mining|Services|System|Systems|Water|Environmental
Charter|Copper|Energy|Industrial|Mining|Services|System|Systems|Water|Environmental
charter|copper|energy|industrial|mining|services|system|systems|water|environmental

Chile committee votes to scrap water rights for mines and farms

4th February 2022

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

A proposal to annul water rights granted to Chile’s private sector over the past four decades was approved in an initial vote by an environmental committee as part of the process to draft a new constitution.

The plan would require mines, agribusinesses and utilities to seek temporary permits to use water in a new model that prioritizes human consumption, the sustainability of water reserves and indigenous rights. Other non-industrial holders of water rights would receive compensation within two years.

Thursday’s vote is just a first step, with the norm requiring subsequent approval by the committee, as well as a two-thirds majority by the full assembly before becoming part of a draft charter that will go to a referendum in the second half of the year.

The proposal would mark another major step toward enshrining water as a human right as depleting supplies increase scrutiny of one of the world’s most privatised allotment systems. In January, congress passed a bill to cap unlimited water allocations at 30 years and empower regulators to suspend rights that aren’t being used, or if supplies are at risk.

By protecting the rights of agricultural, energy and mining companies, the current system helped Chile become a major exporter of goods from copper to avocado and wine. But more than a decade of drought and lax oversight has left some communities dry, elevating water to a key social justice issue.

Water is part of a broader push in Chile to overhaul a model that used privatized social services to help create one of the region’s most vibrant economies but which left many people behind. Those concerns underpinned an eruption of street protests in 2019 that gave rise to the Constitutional Assembly.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

Latest News

Ramelius sets sights on 500 000 oz/y with Spartan merger
Ramelius sets sights on 500 000 oz/y with Spartan merger
Updated 1 hour 19 minutes ago By: Mariaan Webb

Showroom

Alco-Safe
Alco-Safe

Developed to exceed the latest EN 15964 standards for police breathalysers proving that it will remain accurate and reliable for many years to come.

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Chelsea Safety Boot
BOVA Safety Wear

BOVA cemented their reputation in Africa by delivering high quality engineering through their range of safety footwear. 21 years after producing...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (14/03/2025)
14th March 2025 By: Martin Creamer
Magazine round up | 14 March 2025
Magazine round up | 14 March 2025
14th March 2025

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.149 0.228s - 150pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now