Fears grow that Milei will withdraw Argentina from Paris climate accord

Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump

There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.

Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.

On Thursday, Milei, a prolific climate science denier, became the first world leader to meet Trump after his election at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where the Argentinian president took photos with the US president-elect, Elon Musk and Robert F Kennedy Jr before giving a keynote address. On Friday Milei was attending an investor conference organized by the Conservative Political Action Conference at Trump’s Palm Beach residence.

Milei has previously called the climate crisis a “socialist lie” and pledged to withdraw Argentina from the Paris agreement to limit global heating to below 2C during his campaign last year, but he subsequently backed down. Trump has already pledged to withdraw the US from the climate accord for the second time after he pulled out in 2016, when no other countries followed.

Trump is expected to set in motion a second US withdrawal soon after he is sworn in as US president on 20 January. His allies are pushing for a more permanent US exit from the Paris deal, and potentially even the underlying United Nations climate framework.

“President Trump can certainly announce his intention to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement, but he should take it a step further and submit the treaty to the Senate, which is what has supposed to happen in the first place,” said Tom Pyle, president of the conservative American Energy Alliance.

“Let the Senate decide once and for all whether the US should be a party to Paris.”

Gerardo Werthein, the Argentina’s foreign minister, told the New York Times that his country was “re-evaluating our strategy on all matters related to climate change”.

Observers said that Argentina’s potential departure would face strong domestic opposition. Oscar Soria, the Argentina director of the Common Initiative thinktank, said: “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 said.

“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 stroke of a pen. He will need the approval of the Argentinian parliament to do so. Argentina ratified the Paris agreement in 2016, and all international treaties ratified by the country hold constitutional status,” he said.

In the coming days, Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with Milei in Buenos Aires ahead of the G20 summit in Brazil amid tensions between the EU and South America about a potential trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc.

“Global climate action will continue, with or without Argentina. This was proven true in the case of the United States when Trump decided to leave the Paris agreement in 2017. Many far-right leaders have underestimated the Paris agreement before. This group seems destined to do the same,” Soria said.

Cover photo: By The Guardian