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LATER this year, a pivotal vote is due to take place in South America. If it goes the right way, a country seemingly addicted to environmental destruction in the name of profit will finally decide that enough is enough.

I am not talking about the Brazilian presidential election on 2 October, though the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro would be worth celebrating. A month earlier, Chileans will go to the polls to decide whether to scrap their constitution and adopt a new one. If the answer is yes, Chile will set about turning itself into a new type of civilisation.

Chile鈥檚 current constitution dates from 1980, during the military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. Inspired by neoliberal economics, it enshrined free markets, deregulation and private property rights into the heart of Chilean law.

This system 鈥� largely kept intact after the restoration of democracy in 1990 鈥� has arguably served the nation well, at least from the perspective of economic growth. Chile is one of South America鈥檚 wealthiest countries, but it is also one of the most unequal and environmentally despoiled.

Those cracks are now straining Chilean society to the limit. September鈥檚 plebiscite was ostensibly triggered by a wave of massive street protests that started in Santiago in October 2019. The immediate cause was subway fare rises, but the demonstrations quickly gave voice to other festering grievances, chiefly environmental injustices and water shortages, according to Ezio Costa at the University of Chile. Both can be attributed to the 1980 constitution, which created so-called industrial sacrifice zones with little or no protection for workers or the environment, and cemented private property rights over water rights.

One of the protesters鈥� demands was for a new constitution. In November 2019, the Chilean government agreed to hold a referendum on creating one. The vote happened in October 2020 and the , albeit on a turnout of just over 50 per cent. In May, Chileans elected the Constitutional Assembly to draft the document. Most of its 155 seats were won by left-leaning private citizens with no experience of politics or constitutional law.

The final draft of the proposed constitution was published on 4 July and will be put to yet another vote on 4 September. It is, says , the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, a 鈥渞emarkable document鈥� and a 鈥渄ramatic departure from the current Chilean constitution鈥�.

In large part, that is because of its almost unprecedented commitment to the environment. The document styles itself as an 鈥渆cological constitution鈥�: of 311 articles, 80 are concerned in some way with protection of the natural world. An entire chapter (24 articles) is devoted to nature and the environment, explicitly recognising the climate and ecological crises and committing the state to solving them. All told, says Costa, the constitution would compel the state to 鈥渆xist without destroying nature鈥�. Or, to coin a slogan: 鈥淢ake Chile ecological again!鈥�

According to Boyd, the draft constitution is one of the two most environmentally progressive in the world, the other being Ecuador鈥檚, which came into force in 2008 and was the first to recognise the rights of nature. But Ecuador has struggled to implement its constitution and, if fully enacted, Chile鈥檚 would make it the first truly ecological state.

If this sounds too idealistic to be true, that is because it probably is. Despite strong initial public support for the new constitution, now show solid and growing opposition to ratifying it. The most likely outcome on 4 September is a decisive vote for the status quo.

What went wrong? According to journalist Marcel Oppliger at Chile鈥檚 Diario Financiero, the Constitutional Assembly took it upon itself to radically refound the country and overreached, proposing, for example, the abolition of the Senate, while ignoring many of the grievances that brought it about. As a result, popular support collapsed.

If Chile rejects the document, then green ambitions aren鈥檛 lost. Chile鈥檚 1980 constitution isn鈥檛 set in stone. Since 1990, it has been amended 22 times and could be retooled again. Other countries in the region, such as Costa Rica, have gone green through concise constitutional amendments.

And even in electoral defeat, Chile鈥檚 constitutional movement will have won the argument to create a greener, fairer nation. 鈥淥ne of my favourite quotes is from a South African judge who said that a constitution is like a mirror of a country鈥檚 soul,鈥� says Boyd. 鈥淚f this proposed constitution is a mirror of the Chilean soul, then, my, what a beautiful soul that is.鈥�