June 30 marked the end of the first six months of 2023, a period that was the subject of Chilean foreign media coverage analysis. As is customary in the international arena, the information focused on the political context, internal events such as the forest fires, and the situation in the southern macro-zone. However, there was also significant coverage on issues related to the clean energy transition, science and innovation, as well as multilateral reforms and agreements, and Chile’s eventual future role in the lithium industry.
Just counting the sustainability field, our country has been mentioned in more than 1,850 publications, highlighting the Chilean market’s opportunities for lithium exploitation, as well as the possibility of generating a strategic alliance between France and Chile for its sustainable exploitation.
Along the same lines, the April announcement of the National Lithium Policy caught the international media’s attention, whose informative focus was on the strategic importance of this resource in the energy transition, highlighting the country’s strengthened role as a key regional and global supplier of minerals.
The increase in the transactional value of copper and the search for sustainable technologies for its extraction were strongly emphasized in this field, as well as the government’s decision to reject the Dominga project, within the framework of its policy of prioritizing environmental protection.
Other milestones also recognized by the foreign media were Green hydrogen and our country’s advances in developing its industry. An example of this is the coverage made by Reuters agency, which reported on the results of the Aurora Energy Studies for the European Union. According to these reports, Chile and Australia would be the non-European countries with the most competitive prices in the world for imports by 2030.
Astronomy and science from the end of the world
Announcements in science and innovation also attracted positive interest from the international press during this first semester, totalling 2,462 articles, highlighting among them space exploration “from the privileged Chilean skies”, as well as marine biodiversity, climatic phenomena and advances in innovation.
Among the publications, the calculation of the age of the galaxy closest to the Big Bang and the effects of galaxy collisions, both discoveries made by foreign researchers from the ALMA telescope array in the Atacama region, stand out.
Also in this field, Clarín interviewed the Science Minister, Carolina Gainza. President Boric’s administration was also highlighted by the publication for being the first to implement a national scientific policy.
National achievements and the constituent process’s future
In commemoration of the first year of government, international media such as El País, Semana, El Tiempo, Gestión and El Comercio reviewed the executive’s milestones and achievements. Among the featured topics are economic results such as the 2022 fiscal surplus, the increase in foreign investment and the decrease in inflation, as well as the increase in public health care coverage, the increase in minimum wage and environmental advances.
Likewise, the feminist seal during the first year of government was emphasized, crowned by the launch in June of a Feminist Foreign Policy. This event, that highlights gender equality as “a democratic value”, made Chile the first South American country to implement it.
With regards to the coming months’ challenges, the international press reported on the pressure posed by the migratory crisis and the Mapuche conflict, the challenge of achieving promised structural reforms and the impact that the new constitutional process will have
