Argentina’s government is preparing a decree to amend the National Glacier Law (Ley 26,639), aiming to allow industrial activities, mining, and oil or gas exploration in periglacial zones.
The Economy Ministry’s proposal would limit protection to active glaciers over one hectare with hydric functions and those listed in the Inventario Nacional de Glaciares.
President Javier Milei’s government administration sustains that environmental controls will remain while giving provinces greater autonomy. Critics doubt those claims. A similar initiative was previously dropped from the ‘Ley de Bases’ bill due to lack of political consensus.
International organisations such as the United Nation have expressed their concern over changes to the National Glacier Law, a historic piece of environmental legislation. In February, 2024, five special rapporteurs dubbed the proposal “regressive,” warning about its possible environmental impact on the defences of the mountain ecosystems.
The law broadly defines glaciers, so it protects not only the icy masses most people think of but also "rock glaciers" and frozen groundwater on mountaintops where glaciers have melted away from the surface.
The National Glacier Institute, which had a big hand in drafting the law, pushed the definition because it is believed most glacial water actually comes from such reserves.
According to the TN news channel, the Milei government will use a decree to amend the Glacier Law, expanding areas open to exploitation to provide “legal security” for investment projects in these zones.
The Milei government will reportedly seek to amend the Glaciers Law via decree to expand the areas cleared for exploitation, reported the TN news channel.
regulates economic activity in periglacial zones. The decision is based on providing “legal security to investment projects” installed in these territories.
The decree will reduce protected zones in order to install mining and drilling for oil or gas, the liberation of chemical products or residues as well as the construction of infrastructure not linked to scientific research.
As confirmed by TN, the decree also intends to give provincial governments the prerogatives over the spaces where industry may be developed.
Faced with the criticism of environmentalist sectors, the government has assured that reports on environmental impact will be required prior to approving investment projects.
Furthermore, the framework of restrictions for both covered and exposed glaciers will be maintained. The current regulations contemplate fines, suspensions and closure.
During a meeting between the Economy Ministry, entrusted with proposing the measure, Secretaries María Tettamanti (Energy) and Daniel Gonzalez (Coordination of Energy and Mining) and technical teams from the Casa Rosada, a study of new investment promotion measures was undertaken.
Protection
Similar amendments had already been pushed in the early versions of the ‘Ley de Bases’ mega-reform. The national government included the changes in the law for “Minimised Budgets for the Preservation of Glaciers and the Periglacial Environment” but they were eliminated from the final document, lacking Congress approval.
In 2019, the Supreme Court confirmed the constitutional status of the Glacier Law, ruling that the responsibility for their protection should be shared between the national and provincial governments.
The norm establishes the obligation of work to study, monitor and evaluate the impact of activities on the glaciers and the periglacial environment. It also established the creation of an Inventario Nacional de Glaciares, a fundamental tool for compiling information and monitoring the ice bodies.
At the same time it was involved in disputes related to mega-mining and the sectors which would limit glacier protection to permit mining activity.
The national government thus seeks to amend this norm with the argument of promoting and “looking after foreign investors.”
Environmental activist Nicole Becker, president of Jóvenes por el Clima Argentina, warned that the government aims to permit exploitation of periglacial zones, currently protected due to their crucial role in water conservation.
“Argentina has over 16,000 glaciers, all of which are melting,” Becker said. “The Perito Moreno glacier, one of the least retreating, lost 1.92 square kilometres in seven years — about 320 football pitches.”
Glaciers supply 70 percent of the world’s fresh water and regulate global temperatures by reflecting solar light. Becker called the reforms “nonsensical.”
In February, NGOs, rights groups and environmentalists voiced alarm over lobbying efforts by multinational mining companies targeting provincial governments.
“The Glacier Law is a landmark environmental safeguard of essential ecosystems vital for the population’s livelihood and work,” they said in a joint statement. “Any attempt to weaken it is a clear attack on environmental protection and the country’s strategic natural assets.”
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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