On March 27th-28th, Johannes Rehner, academic at UC Geography Institute and ICLAC principal investigator, and Andrea Freites, Nucleus thesis student and UC Political Science Doctorate student, participated in the international seminar "China and Latin America: Challenges for a Just Energy Transition", organized by the Center for Studies on China and Asia-Pacific at Universidad del Pacífico (Peru).
The meeting brought together specialists from Latin America, China, and the United States to analyze the role of Chinese investments in the region's energy transition and the social and environmental governance challenges these processes imply.
The March 27th session, open to the public, began with the inaugural talk "Understanding Chinese Global Environmentalism" by UCLA professor Alex Wang. ICLAC principal investigator Johannes Rehner participated in the panel "Latin America: Environmental and Social Governance Challenges for a Just Transition", where he presented Chile's case alongside experts from Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. During the session, the main findings of research teams were discussed, as well as tensions between economic development, environmental protection, and territorial justice in the region. It's worth noting that associate researcher Juliana González Jauregui from FLACSO Argentina also participated in the activity.
The 28th featured a closed workshop where Andrea Freites presented the Chilean team's research advances, composed of principal investigators Miguel Atienza from Universidad Católica del Norte and Johannes Rehner (UC), and researchers Andrea Freites and Antonia Lorie (UC).
Research on Chinese investments and environmental governance in Chile
The Chilean team is part of an international project financed by the Ford Foundation and coordinated by CECHAP, which seeks to understand the dynamics of Chinese foreign investments in key sectors like critical minerals and energy. The objective is to identify Chinese company investments, analyze related regulatory frameworks, and explore how these investments integrate into energy transition value chains.
From Chile, Millennium Nucleus ICLAC contributes with a focus on environmental and social governance policies, paying special attention to these investments' interaction with vulnerable local communities. According to Andrea Freites, this work has allowed the identification of six key findings, including China's consolidation as a priority partner in trade and investment for Chile; center-periphery pattern in bilateral trade, where Chile exports raw materials and imports manufactures, limiting its ascent in global value chains; increase in Chinese FDI; a more demanding Chilean regulatory frameworkrepresenting both an obstacle and an opportunity to improve environmental control; Chile's role in global energy transition, with key resources like lithium and potential in non-conventional renewable energies; and governance challenges in this new phase of relationship with China, including the need to improve environmental regulation.
In upcoming stages, the team will develop case studies in Chile related to critical minerals and value-added projects with Chinese investment. Additionally, continuous cooperation with international research teams like Peking University (INSE) and Boston University (GDP Center) is expected, which will allow strengthening analysis approaches and regional integration of findings.