In 2020, the building sector in Chile was responsible for around 23% of total national energy demand, and more than 7% of total GHG emissions.¹

In 2019, electricity used in buildings represented a 34% share of total sectoral energy consumption. This share would need to double by 2030 and reach over 86% by 2050 to be 1.5°C compatible.

The Chilean government has put in place energy efficiency policies and has specific mitigation plans for the sector. According to the targets set in the 2050 Energy Plan, 100% of public and residential buildings in the country should be in line with the “OECD sustainable construction standards” by 2035.⁵

In addition, all public sector buildings should be highly energy efficient by 2035. By 2050, all new buildings should be highly energy efficient/rated highly energy efficient and have smart energy management control systems in place. All existing buildings must report on their energy consumption by 2050.⁵

Chile’s energy efficiency law grants an energy efficiency label to buildings that meet a specific energy rating and also mandates all types of buildings, whether public, residential, commercial or office buildings, to be energy rated as part of the permit process.^1,4

¹ Climate Action Tracker. Chile. November 2022 update. Climate Action Tracker. 2022.

² PIK. PRIMAP: Paris-Reality Check, Chile. 2016.

³ Ministerio de Energía. Energia abierta: Balance nacional de energía.

⁴ Guerra, E. & Guillén, J. Leyes de Eficiencia Energética en Latinoamérica y el Caribe. 2021.

⁵ Ministry of Energy. Energia 2050 Politica Energetica de Chile. 2022.

⁶ Ministerio de Minería, G. de C. Minería 2050. Politica Nacional Minera. 2022.

⁷ International Energy Agency. Country Profile: Chile. 2019.

⁸ S&P Global Platts. Chile lifts coal imports, but limited by rising natural gas supplies. S&P Global. 2019.

⁹ Gobierno de of Chile. Presidente Piñera presentó plan para cerrar todas las centrales energéticas a carbón para que Chile sea carbono neutral. 4 de Junio. 2019.

¹⁰ Government of Chile. Chile’s Nationally Determined Contribution – Update 2020. 2020.

¹¹ Climate Action Tracker. CAT Climate Target Update Tracker Chile. Climate Action Tracker. 2020.

¹² Ministerio de Energia del Gobierno de Chile. NDC y Plan de Carbono Neutralidad 2050. 2020.

¹³ Ministerio de Energia- Gobierno de Chile. Plataforma de Electromovilidad. Orientaciones de Politicas Publicas. 2022.

¹⁴ EBP Chile. Estudio de Movilidad Eléctrica en Chile. 2018.

¹⁵ La Tercera. El plan que busca convertir a Chile en el segundo país con más buses eléctricos del mundo. Electricidad. La revista energetica de Chile. 2018.

¹⁶ Government of Chile. Chile announces that it will work to put an end to coal use by 2030 after joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance. 2021.

¹⁷ Ministerio de Energía. Energía 2050: Política Energética de Chile. 2015.

¹⁸ Gütschow, J., Günther, A. & Pflüger, M. The PRIMAP-Hist national historical emissions time series (1990-2021). 2022.

¹⁹ While global cost-effective pathways assessed by the IPCC Special Report 1.5°C provide useful guidance for an upper-limit of emissions trajectories for developed countries, they underestimate the feasible space for such countries to reach net zero earlier. The current generation of models tend to depend strongly on land-use sinks outside of currently developed countries and include fossil fuel use well beyond the time at which these could be phased out, compared to what is understood from bottom-up approaches. The scientific teams which provide these global pathways constantly improve the technologies represented in their models – and novel CDR technologies are now being included in new studies focused on deep mitigation scenarios meeting the Paris Agreement goal. A wide assessment database of these new scenarios is not yet available; thus, we rely on available scenarios which focus particularly on BECCS as a net-negative emission technology. Accordingly, we do not yet consider land-sector emissions (LULUCF) and other CDR approaches.