In a creative move to spotlight the lack of a glacier-protection law in Chile, Greenpeace Chile this month declared that without such legislation in place the glaciers here are effectively stateless. As such, the activist group has declared a new country, “Glacier Republic,” on the 9,000 square miles (23,000 sq kms) of glaciers in Chile, which the group says amount to 82% of South America’s glaciers. “Neither the constitution nor the water code mentions glaciers as public goods that need to be protected actively,” says Matias Asun, executive director of Greenpeace Chile. “Chile is one of the few countries without a law to protect glaciers, and that has allowed mining companies to become their main threat.” Plans for a vote in Chile’s Senate on... [Log in to read more]