2025 began in Argentina with extreme climatic events that illustrate the crisis we face: fires especially in Patagonia, but also in Corrientes and Córdoba, among others, and floods in Bahía Blanca. These phenomena are not isolated, but part of an alarming global pattern. According to the Copernicus climate change service, 2024 was the warmer registered year, with heat and cold waves, droughts, floods and unusual snowfall. The connection with the climate crisis is undeniable, and society perceives it clearly: 9 out of 10 Argentines believe that the state of nature impacts its health, and climate change is among its main environmental concerns, together with fires, deforestation and waste management.
Faced with this panorama, Argentina is part of various international agreements to address the climatic and biodiversity crisis. In addition to the Paris Agreement, signed within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (CMNUCC), our country is also part of the Biological Diversity Convention (CDB). In 2022, the states attached to the latter signed the global Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, an agreement that seeks to stop and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030. Both agreements are complementary, since reducing greenhouse gas emissions is impossible without considering the protection of nature and people.
While these commitments are fundamental, Access to international financing remains a challenge. At the end of 2024, at the Conference of the Parts (COP29) of Climate, it was agreed that developed countries will channel at least USD 300,000 million a year until 2035 to support the reduction of emissions in developing countries, in addition to a broader objective of collecting USD 1.3 billion annual annuals of various sources, including private investment. However, these amounts continue to be insufficient in the face of the magnitude of the problem: according to the Permanent Committee of Finance of the CMNUCC, the financial needs of developing countries amount to between USD 5 and 6.8 billion by 2030. In turn, the funds for losses and damage, designed to meet the climatic catastrophes, are even more limited and difficult to access.
In the field of biodiversity, The global biodiversity framework established the goal of raising USD 20,000 million by 2025 and mobilizing USD 200,000 million annually by 2030. Also, at the end of last year at COP16, the Cali fund was created, which seeks to channel financing from companies that use digitized genetic information, ensuring that at least 50% of resources support local conservation actions, especially indigenous peoples and local communities.
Given this context, the question arises, these agreements have financing mechanisms to address loss and damage to climatic events. The World Bank houses a specific fund created in the COP28 that took place in 2023. This fund already has commitments assumed of different nations for its creation, and still subtracts the criteria for access to financing. Countries are expected to incorporate detailed loss and damage assessments in their specific contributions at the national level (NDC) to access these resources. However, the effective implementation of these mechanisms will depend on the management and the strategies adopted by each government.
And this is where doubts arise about Argentina’s level of commitment to climatic action. Although the country has historically had an active participation in international negotiations and has a legal framework for climate action (Law 27,520), the recent decisions of the national government generate uncertainty. The withdrawal of the Argentine Delegation of the COP29 contradicts the commitments assumed and can affect the international image of the country, as well as its access to markets with more demanding environmental standards. In addition, this decision violates current legislation and weakens Argentina’s ability to negotiate financing and articulate mitigation and adaptation policies.
Despite these setbacks nationwide, there are actors who continue to bet on climatic action. An example of the alliance for Argentine Climate Action (AACA), a network of local governments, companies and civil society that seeks to advance the climate agenda from the subnational. This shows that, even in adverse contexts, there is still margin for leadership and transformation.
The climatic crisis does not expect, and Argentina must demonstrate that it is prepared to protect its people and their territory from their growing impacts, from fires and floods to economic and social losses. Prevention and early action are key to avoiding irreversible damage.
Specialist in Public Policies and Governance at Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina
Source: Ambito
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