There is concern that President Javier Milei, an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump may consider withdrawing from the Paris Accord after Argentina abruptly rejected the COP29 climate negotiations in Azerbaijan.
Such a decision would hurt the 2015 international accord to reduce global warming and align Milei’s pessimism about climate change with Trump’s stance.
Maximiliano Ferraro, a member of the opposition Civic Coalition in Argentina stated, “If Milei’s government decides to exit the Paris Agreement, we would be faced with huge legal and constitutional implications.”
Milei’s government negotiators were told to leave the Cop29 climate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan earlier this week after only three days and later that Milei is thinking about making an official announcement to end the Paris Climate contract.
During his campaign last year, Milei vowed to pull Argentina out of the Paris agreement to keep global warming below 2C and previously referred to the climate crisis as a “socialist lie.” However, he later changed his mind.
Argentina was “re-evaluating our strategy on all matters related to climate change,” according to Argentina’s foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein.
According to researchers, there would be fierce domestic resistance to Argentina’s possible exit. The Common Initiative research tank’s head for Argentina, Oscar Soria stated, “Milei’s environmental policy is driven by ideological biases that conflict with science and international law. His anti-Agenda 2030 framework, fuelled by misinformation and extremist doctrine, is a dangerous cocktail that is already affecting – and will continue to affect – the wellbeing of Argentinians.”
He added, “There is growing concern about the possibility of Argentina leaving the Paris agreement. However, such a move will not be easy to implement. Milei cannot withdraw from the Paris agreement with the stroke of a pen. He will need the approval of the Argentine parliament to do so. Argentina ratified the Paris agreement in 2016, and all international treaties ratified by the country hold constitutional status.”
Soria added that “with or without Argentina, global climate action will continue. That was shown in the United States when Donald Trump took the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in 2017. A lot of extreme-right leaders have underestimated the Paris Agreement.”
