Fundación Chile, IDB emphasize the role of the private sector in mobilizing a climate impact agenda

This press release from Fundación Chile was published using machine translation.

Santiago, November 8, 2021.- “Net Zero: the company as the engine of a transformative and impactful climate agenda”, was the name of the activity organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Fundación Chile that brought together representatives from the public, private and civil society sectors to analyze and debate the opportunities and challenges that the country has in its path towards carbon neutrality. In a special way, the role of the private sector and the business sector as the engine of a climate impact agenda was addressed.

The activity had the participation of José Ramón Valente, President of Fundación Chile; Marcos Kulka, General Manager of Fundación Chile; María Florencia Attademo-Hirt, General Manager of the Southern Cone Countries and Representative in Chile of the IDB Group; Camilo Avilés, Head of the New Energy Unit of the Ministry of Energy; Máximo Pacheco, former Minister of Energy and professor at the School of Government of the Catholic University and Mónica Duwe, CEO of HSBC Chile, among others.

On the occasion, José Ramón Valente, President of Fundación Chile emphasized that public-private cooperation is needed to face Climate Change “where there are no hegemonies and concrete solutions are generated”. Valente added that “there is nothing that mobilizes companies and people more than incentives, much more than prohibitions and regulations and what better incentive than to have the most important stakeholder that each of the companies has -which are consumers- sensitized to the importance of climate change ".

For her part, Florencia Attademo-Hirt BID, pointed out that a transition to a zero emissions economy can generate an additional 1% growth and 15 million new net jobs in the region by 2030”.

Regarding the question, "How can public climate policies unlock private sector participation in a sustainable economic recovery in the region, with job creation and competitiveness, as the IDB Group's Vision 2025 points out?" Attademo-Hirt highlighted that where the country innovates is with its long-term Climate Strategy creating an institutional framework, which aims, in the coming years, to ensure that the private sector faces the necessary regulations and incentives to adopt technologies and practices like these, and to monitor that the transition be fair and inclusive”.

Natacha Marzolf, Principal Specialist of the Energy Division of the IDB Group, pointed out that “regulations and financing prevent us from reaching carbon neutrality. Update the regulations of technical government agencies such as public transport, which allow mitigating risks and mobilizing sources of private financing. Climate finance must be demystified from the private sector. Reaching carbon neutrality implies moving hand in hand with our private partners and our commitment is to accompany the Chilean government on this path and support the private sector to implement decarbonization solutions”.

For his part, Camilo Avilés, pointed out that “in Chile 77% of emissions come from the energy sector; transportation, large-scale mining, electricity generation are part of the industries that must be decarbonized”.

Hence -he explained- that “green hydrogen plays a fundamental role, because it allows decarbonizing industries that are very difficult to abate. We always think that the electricity market with the withdrawal of coal could be one of the great milestones, but this effort is not going to be enough. If we want to achieve carbon neutrality goals by 2050, a different energy sector is needed. And that is where green hydrogen plays a main role because it allows us to decarbonise industries such as steel, industries such as petrochemicals, fertilizer industries, aviation cargo transport industry, maritime transport and green hydrogen will allow us to be able to use it as fuel. for all these industries”.

During the day, a conversation panel was also developed to delve into electromobility, its opportunities, challenges, and new models of innovation with inclusion. This was moderated by the journalist Soledad Onetto and had the participation of Felipe Fernández, Director of Uber for Southern Cone; Diego Fleischmann, CEO of Migrante, and Mariana Pavón, Deputy Director of Content, Energy Sustainability Agency.

In the instance, the representatives agreed on the importance of seeing electromobility in a comprehensive way, as a complete ecosystem that allows progress on all fronts: infrastructure, vehicle supply, training and education, drivers, users, among others. They also emphasized the importance of the public-private alliance to promote a massive adoption of this type of technology.

At the end of the day, a Green Hydrogen Project Showcase was held, in which the Acero Verdel projects participated; HyEx and Green Hydrogen Bahía de Quintero.

Projects:

HyEx: Engie in collaboration with ENAEX

HyEx intends to produce green ammonia in northern Chile for national and international consumption, replacing imports.

ENGIE is a world reference company in energy and low-carbon services, with a Business Unit dedicated to renewable hydrogen since 2018. ENAEX, meanwhile, is the main producer of ammonium nitrate and provider of comprehensive rock fragmentation services for the mining industry in Latin America. With more than 100 years of experience and presence in 10 countries. ENAEX is actively committed to sustainability.

Green Hydrogen Bahía de Quintero: GNL Quintero in collaboration with Enagas and Acciona

GNL Quintero, the largest LNG regasification terminal in Chile located in Quintero Bay, intends to take advantage of its proximity to industrial areas with high energy demand and gray hydrogen consumption to produce green hydrogen for the national market.

GNL Quintero is a terminal for the reception, discharge and regasification of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). In operation since 2009, it supplies the demand for natural gas in the central region of Chile, transporting the gas both by pipelines and by trucks. 20% of the company is owned by the National Petroleum Company of Chile (ENAP).

Green Steel Project: CAP Acero in collaboration with Paul Wurth

The steelmaker HUACHIPATO (CAP Acero) is part of the CAP Integrated Iron and Steel Group and is the main steel producer in Chile. The company plans to reduce CO2 emissions from its steel production processes by developing a technology that allows the incorporation of green hydrogen throughout its value chain.

CAP Acero - Compañía Siderúrgica Huachipato SA - is a company of the CAP Group and the main steel producing industry in Chile.

Since 1950, the Company has led the steel business in Chile and currently has a production capacity of 800,000 tons of liquid steel / year. CAP Acero is the only integrated steel company in the country, which means that it produces steel from basic raw materials, such as iron ore, coal and limestone, which guarantees products of high purity and controlled quality. It supplies important sectors of the economy, mainly mining, metalworking and construction.