Rafael Asenjo

Rafael is one of the most prominent environmental lawyers in Chile. He has held several government and international multilateral positions, in which he has helped build the foundations of environmental law and policy in Chile. He was the Executive Director of the National Environmental Commission, where he helped create Chile’s first legal tools for environmental management, including the “Ley 19.300, de Bases Generales del Medio Ambiente y el Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental” (SEIA), which is the country’s Environmental Impact Assessment Program. At the United Nations, Rafael was the Executive Director of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the National Coordinator  of the GEF-PNUD-MMA Proyecto “Creación de un Sistema Nacional Integral de Áreas Protegidas para Chile”, which worked to create an integrated public and private protected areas system for Chile. Rafael was also the President of the Studies for Development Center (CED), where he provided technical assistance to environmental projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (of the Universidad de Chile Lawyer. Most recently, Rafael has served as Titular Minister and then President of the Environmental Court of Santiago. Rafael has a Law degree from the Universidad de Chile.