President Javier Milei government’s on Wednesday ordered the entire Argentine delegation to withdraw from the ongoing COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan.
This decision relates to President Milei’s rejection of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Argentina’s libertarian administration says the plan, which was adopted by all UN member states in 2015, inconveniences companies operating in this country.
A small delegation of Argentine officials was at the summit, which began on November 11, but they received orders last Wednesday to suspend their agenda and return to Buenos Aires immediately.
The representatives walked out in order not to endorse what is decided there, government sources leaked. Milei later retweeted some messages celebrating the move.
Negotiations at COP29 have a clear focus on the need for more financing from developed countries to mitigate climate change.
Landing a new agreement is the top priority of negotiators at the summit in Azerbaijan. But it is deeply contentious, and consensus has eluded negotiators from nearly 200 nations for the better part of a year.
Most developing countries favour an annual commitment from wealthy countries of at least US$1.3 trillion, according to the latest draft of the long-sought climate finance pact.
This figure is more than 10 times the US$100 billion annually that a small pool of developed countries – among them the United States, the European Union and Japan – currently pay.
Argentina’s COP walkout does not mean it is withdrawing from the Paris Accords to halt global warming.
That would require a more extended process of up to a year, which would imply ceasing to form part of the UN Climate Change Framework Convention. Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the agreements once he becomes US president next January, as he already did in his first term.
"It’s time to demonstrate that world cooperation is not stagnant but is up to what this moment requires," said Simon Stiell, UN Executive Director for the Climate, when opening the COP conference earlier this week.
The summit will run until next Friday with the presence of presidents and leading figures but not any Argentine representation.
– TIMES/NA
