By Maxwell Radwin
A sweeping reform package introduced by the new government in Argentina is drawing criticism from conservation groups, who say new state programs and weakened regulations could endanger the environment.
Congress passed the massive reform package this week to overhaul the country’s struggling economy. But conservation groups say many of its policies weaken protections for local and Indigenous communities and encourage accelerated investment in projects with a record of deforestation and pollution.
“This is dangerous and concerning,” Manuel Jaramillo, head of the Wildlife Foundation in Argentina, told Mongabay. “It’s fair to think that in the context of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution, we should be creating legislation to protect the environment for everyone’s benefit. But [these reforms] are making it harder to confront those challenges.”
The reform package establishes a one-year “public emergency” that grants the national government increased powers to act on economic, financial and energy matters. It also streamlines the development of large investment in infrastructure, oil and gas and the mining of copper and lithium, among other things.
President Javier Milei, who took office in December, developed the package, known as the “omnibus law,” to resuscitate a floundering Argentine economy plagued by inflation and debt. A libertarian and outspoken climate change denier, he’s emphasized deregulation, privatization and austerity measures as vital to strengthening Argentina’s competitiveness.
President Javier Milei speaks at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Photo courtesy of WEF.
The original version of the bill, introduced soon after he took office, had more than 600 articles with polarizing proposals like increasing oil and gas drilling around protected glaciers and making around 80% of forested land eligible for clearing. But without enough support from lawmakers, the Milei government had to strip back more than half of the proposals.
The new version, with about 230 articles, was narrowly approved by the senate earlier this month then sent back to the lower house for a final vote. It no longer includes any direct changes to the country’s environmental and conservation laws, but many of the economic policies pose threats of their own, critics say.
One of the most controversial policies has to do with an incentive program for “mega” investment projects worth more than $200 million. While the program requires oversight of the technical and economic feasibility of a project, it makes no mention of overseeing social or environmental impacts. That could leave ecosystems vulnerable to reckless deforestation and dumping of chemicals, among other threats, conservationists say.
“There’s no foreseeable sanction for violating environmental regulations,” said a report by the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN), a conservation and human rights group in Argentina. “Projects will be able to keep the benefits of [the program] even if they contaminate rivers, soils and aquifers, destroy glaciers or cause the extinction of a species.”
Contracts for the projects could extend as long as 30 years, but it’s unclear how companies will be held accountable for environmental damage, the FARN report said. Normally, local and provincial governments can address environmental threats in their jurisdictions, but the incentive program is run entirely by the national government, so some of those local powers might not apply.
“The application of [this law] would erase local environmental jurisdiction,” the FARN report said.
The lower house debates the reform bill in Buenos Aires. Photo courtesy of Chamber of Deputies.
In a statement, the office of the president denounced lawmakers who tried obstructing the vote “at the expense of the development of the country.” Oil and gas exports.) could see a historic rise because of the reforms, some economic analysts have said. The country’s massive lithium deposits are also expected to make the country one of the top global suppliers as new projects finish development.
One article in the reform modifies an administrative law on public hearings that could make it harder for local communities to contest new projects. It allows companies to decide how they communicate with residents, either through hearings, a formal prior consultation process or an alternative mechanism of their design that might not have legal precedent, the FARN report said.
The prior consultation process, in which residents meet with developers to discuss the potential impacts of projects in their communities, is designed to prevent social and environmental conflicts. Weakening the requirements for how that’s carried out makes it even easier to take advantage of vulnerable communities, according to the FARN report.
“[This law] represents a serious setback for citizen participation in administrative procedures linked to the preservation and protection of the environment,” it said.
The reforms also give the president power to unliterally dissolve trust funds that support public services. Conservation groups said Milei could target the Trust Fund for the Environmental Protection of Native Forests and the National Fire Management Fund, which help protect forests, prevent fires and fight climate change.
Despite continued protests across Argentina and backlash from lawmakers, Milei has stood firm on his approach and said he plans to introduce thousands of additional reforms in 2025.
“We’ll change Argentina,” he said earlier this month during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. “We’re going to be the most liberal country in the world and in forty years, we’re going to become a first world power.”
Banner image: Perito Moreno Glacier. Photo by Neil Moralee via Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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This article was originally published on Mongabay
