Chile’s President Caste threw out dozens of environmental protections Environmental news

Chile’s Environment Ministry has suspended 43 measures that touch on issues such as pollution, emissions and national parks.

As part of a shift toward more conservative policies under newly inaugurated President José Antonio Coste, the new Chilean government has announced the suspension of 43 regulations to protect the environment.

The Ministry of Environment said on Tuesday that it has withdrawn the rulings, which are still under review by the Office of the Comptroller General.

Many were introduced during the final days of former President Gabriel Boric’s tenure. Kast was sworn in on March 11.

The suspension affects regulations that touch on issues such as power plant emissions, smelter plant pollution and the creation of new national parks.

“I understand there’s concern,” Kast said. “But I invite you to look at what the public needs: growth, environmental protection, but above all, jobs. And this is in line with that.”

He indicated that part of his motivation to roll back environmental policies was to reduce the unemployment rate.

“We always want to create the best public policy for full employment, respecting the environment,” he said.

The environment ministry played down the downstream effects of scrapping the rules, saying it was “standard practice” for new administrations to update policies.

“Our objective is that every administrative act issued by the Ministry of Environment meets the highest standards of legal quality, safeguards people’s well-being and effectively protects the country’s natural heritage,” the ministry said.

The right-wing Kast has promised that his tenure will mark a complete departure from the policies of his left-wing predecessor Borik.

In the 2025 Chilean elections, Cast campaigned on a platform advocating deregulation as a means of promoting economic growth and foreign investment.

According to polls, he promised to control immigration and crime in the country, two of the top concerns of voters.

So far, Boric has taken cost measures to cut government spending by about $3bn through 2026, in addition to the $800m a year in cuts he outlined.

His administration has begun increasing security along the northern border with Peru and Bolivia, an area often associated with irregular migration.

Kast on Monday visited the site where heavy machinery was being used to dig new trenches as a barrier to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country.

His “border shield” plan mirrors the approach of other far-right leaders, such as US President Donald Trump, who have made regional security a priority.

“We have made clear and concrete decisions to close our borders to illegal immigration, drug trafficking and organized crime,” Kast said. “We want to implement this without any delay.”