During the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December 2022, nearly 200 countries, including Chile, agreed to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and to take urgent actions to stop the extinction of endangered species. Despite this commitment, the Chilean government is pushing for the construction of a road that would cross the Alerce Costero National Park (1), an area of global importance for biodiversity conservation (2) and home to the endangered conifer Fitzroya cupressoides (3). Throughout the world, roads threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functions (4). Before pushing this project ahead, Chile should consider the likelihood that the road will undermine the country’s progress toward international environmental commitments.