Chile to write a new constitution with climate change as a central theme

Chile is taking a giant step for its citizens, and the world as whole, by writing a new constitution that will have climate and ecology play a central role. Chile’s new constitution is being written in view of a climate and environmental emergency. The country will embark on a new kind of governance that will keep environmental concerns on the forefront.
At the heart of this new constitution lies the fate of lithium, which is a lustrous and soft metal. It is found in the salt waters near the Andes Mountains. All of us are quite familiar with lithium, as it is an essential part of making batteries. Chile’s concern with lithium comes at a time when lithium is high in demand as an alternative to fossil fuels, hence, prices are soaring.

The argument against this kind of mining for natural resources is the great environmental cost. Moreover, it is also being said that the benefits of this will not reach out to all citizens.
So now the country is looking at the right way to go about mining. A Constitutional Convention has been set up that will decide various factors related to this. Some of the questions that this convention will try to answer are, how the mining should be regulated, and what should be the role of the local communities regarding the mining. Apart from this, Chile will also determine whether it will retain its presidential system, whether nature should have rights, and discuss the future.

The convention will reportedly also decide who owns Chile’s water, and what exactly is water? A total of 155 Chileans have been elected to work on the new constitution.