Chile's environment lawyers say they're just warming up
Chile's environment lawyers say they're just warming up
By Alexandra Ulmer and Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO Fri Jan 17, 2014 1:27pm EST
(Reuters) - Chile's leading environmental lawyers, who have helped stall around $30 billion in mining and energy projects, say the battle is only just beginning - and copper investments are poised to come under increasing fire this year.
In a significant shift for business-friendly Chile, empowered social groups are successfully suing massive projects over threats to glaciers, health, indigenous rights and biodiversity.
Power projects have so far fared the worse, but Santiago-based lawyers Alvaro Toro and Lorenzo Soto say many communities are now turning up the heat on mining in the world's top copper producer.
"This year is going to be very conflictive," Alvaro Toro, a lawyer with environmental NGO OLCA, told Reuters in his tiny office, just a block from the headquarters of world No.1 copper miner, Codelco.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/us-chile-environment-idUSBREA0G1DH20140117?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&rpc=401
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