MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei pulls Argentine mission from COP29 in Baku

The three technicians were instructed not to engage in any participation to not interfere with discussions with which Buenos Aires does not agree

Argentine President Javier Milei Wednesday ordered his country's already small mission to the Conference of Parties 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, to leave the event in rejection of the idea of climate change put forward by the so-called “Agenda 2030” which the Libertarian leader claims to oppose.

Milei's decision is expected to have an impact on companies operating in the South American country, whose doubtful compliance with internationally accepted environmental policies might jeopardize their participation in global markets. Ecological concerns have been one of the reasons for French President Emmanuel Macron to oppose the Mercosur-European Union Free Trade Agreement that would open the door to competitors not subject to the same climate-awareness rules. Macron and Milei might have the chance to discuss this issue this coming weekend at Casa Rosada.

Milei praised himself on social media for his move, which does not imply that Argentina was withdrawing from the Paris Agreement to curb global warming which the country signed in 2015 and which was ratified by Congress in 2016. However, the Argentine Government is very much aligned ideologically with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and therefore Buenos Aires should be expected to go down the same path.

Argentina's delegation consisted of three technicians from the Undersecretariat of Environment, who were ordered to return at the earliest “not to hinder the negotiations.”