The climate crisis demands political leadership. By Mauricio Fabry, Head of the Planning and Regional Development Division, Government of Santiago

By: Mauricio Fabry, Head of the Planning and Regional Development Division, Government of Santiago
There is no room for denying the climate crisis today. Not only because the scientific evidence is overwhelming, but because its effects are already being felt strongly in everyday life. In the Metropolitan Region, we are experiencing the consequences: water shortages, extreme heat waves, and forest fires. These are not isolated or future phenomena: they are here, now, affecting people, the economy, and our ecosystems.
Faced with this scenario, continuing to view public management solely through the lens of economic growth is irresponsible. It ignores the real pain of millions of Chileans. The climate crisis is not a parallel agenda alongside social or security issues: it is a structural part of the context in which we live.
Climate action at the heart of policiesTherefore, the Santiago government made a strategic decision: to place climate action and the water crisis at the center of our public policy.
It's not just about diagnoses, it's about action. Today, we invest more than $20 million a year in environmental initiatives, double the amount invested by the Ministry of the Environment throughout Chile.
This includes Metropolitan Parks such as Cerros de Chena and Renca, massive reforestation programs, water solutions in watersheds through Resilient Maipo, and the creation of the country's first River Basin Authority on the Maipo River: a new territorial and intersectoral governance that sets a precedent.
Citizenship as a protagonist in changeBut the most transformative aspect has been opening up space for communities. The Environmental Citizen Organizations (Ecobarrios Santiago) program empowers hundreds of people to lead sustainable changes in their own neighborhoods.
It's a different development model: from the bottom up, with participation, investment, and capacity transfer. This is public policy with meaning, impact, and a vision for the future.
Presidential elections are approaching, and it's time to open up the debate: What place does the climate crisis occupy among the priorities of those aspiring to govern Chile?
More than security: a livable futureGreen slogans and plans on paper aren't enough. We need leaders who understand that addressing the environmental crisis also means addressing the social crisis.
We cannot reduce our well-being to fighting crime, because without water, without nature, and without a habitable environment, there is no possible future.

Green Opinion Makers #CDO is a collective blog coordinated by Arturo Larena , director of EFEverde
This column may be freely reproduced, citing its authors and EFEverde.
Other Green Opinion Makers (#CDO) forums
This "green influencer" blog has been a finalist in the 2023 Orange Journalism and Sustainability Awards in the "new formats" category.
efeverde