Open Editor's Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories for this weekly newsletter.
Javier Milei's government is considering a proposal for Argentina to leave the Paris agreement, days after Donald Trump announced that the US would withdraw from the main global agreement on climate change.
While no final decision has been made, two people familiar with the discussions said Argentina he was likely to follow the lead of the US, a move that would make it only the second country to withdraw from the treaty signed by nearly 200 nations.
Senior officials read an internal memo recommending the exit, which they said had been briefed on the situation, after the country withdrew from last year's COP29 climate summit negotiators and said it was. to review its international obligations in the environment.
Civil servants wanted to prevent Milei's group from pulling out of the deal, the people said. Another Argentinian diplomat said Miley would make the final decision and “it looks like we may end up leaving”.
The departure, if agreed, would mark a major setback for the world's efforts to tackle climate change. The agreement aims to limit global temperature rise to well below 2C and ideally to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
The environment department of Argentina's interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The liberal leader, who denies that humans are the cause of climate change, on Thursday criticized the global environmental movement in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Wokeism has distorted the basic idea of preserving nature for the benefit of humanity, and turned it into an environmental fanaticism where people are a cancer that must be eradicated, and economic development is little less than a crime against nature,” he said.
On monday, Trump signed an executive order to pull the US out of the Paris agreement for the second time, he has already left during his first term. No other country left the 2015 agreement.
Pulling out of the Paris agreement would require congressional approval in Argentina, but Milei has often bypassed congress using emergency measures during his presidency.
Last year was the hottest on record, with scientists saying the world is on track to meet the global warming targets set out in the agreement.
The withdrawal could affect the EU-Mercosur trade agreement concluded in December between Europe and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which states that the parties can suspend the trade agreement if one of the signatories leaves the Paris agreement.
The diplomat said: “Technical staff at the ministry are trying to explain that while Trump can do what he wants, in Argentina there will be consequences.”
They also mentioned potential problems with Argentina's recently launched bid to join the OECD, which advocates environmental policy standards for members.
Critics have argued that Argentina will be at risk of losing access to climate finance, after receiving billions in such funding, and could be excluded from global carbon markets in the future.
Countries are expected to submit updated climate plans next month under the Paris accord, although many are expected to miss the deadline.