BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (LifeSiteNews) — Despite initial rhetoric from Argentina’s incoming populist, right-wing president Javier Milei, the country will remain in the U.N.’s Paris Climate Agreement, the country’s new climate diplomat said.
In comments to Reuters, the Argentinian government’s new climate diplomat Marcia Levaggi said her country “will honor all our environmental agreements,” including the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The Paris Agreement seeks worldwide cooperation to attempt to control the global temperature via mitigation measures set to be implemented by each country that signs onto it. Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2019, but President Joe Biden re-entered it immediately upon assuming office in January 2021.
In comments to Reuters, Levaggi said Milei’s government fully backs the climate agreement and that its support is the reason she was chosen to lead the Argentinian delegations at the U.N.’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai that began November 30 and is slated to wrap up Tuesday.
“This is why I came to this COP, to reassure our party stakeholders and people following the process that Argentina will stay committed to the Paris Agreement,” Levaggi said.
The Argentina climate diplomat’s comments have been seen as a reversal of sentiments expressed by Milei, who has been widely considered an “ultra-right” politician in the mold of Trump.
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In November, Science Magazine noted that the newly elected leader had “vowed to slash government spending, close or dramatically restructure Argentina’s main science funding agency, and consider eliminating ministries dedicated to protecting public health and the environment.”
He also decried the notion of human-caused climate change as a “socialist hoax.”
“All these politicians who blame the human race for climate change are fake and are only looking to raise money to finance socialist bums who write fourth-rate newspapers,” Milei previously said.
Science Magazine cited researchers who worried about the future of “science” in Argentina under the leadership of the “bombastic right-wing politician” who was elected amid economic turmoil and voters’ desire for “radical change.”
But in comments to Reuters, Levaggi signaled that Milei’s practical leadership may not be as “radical” as anticipated.
“Milei is a liberal, he’s a libertarian, and he believes in market forces,” Levaggi said. “And the market demands to include measures to address climate change.”
“Argentina is in a dire economic situation, you know that,” she said. “And this administration was elected with a strong mandate of fiscal restraint and reform of the public sector.”
Levaggi, who said she was “surprised” to be chosen for the role in Milei’s government, confirmed that the Argentinian government’s Environment Ministry will be shut down but said its functions are to be taken up by other remaining ministries.
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Indeed, Milei appears to have softened on some of his earlier, controversial positions upon taking office.
The Telegraph reported that he has “filled his first Cabinet with mainstream conservatives rather than ideological libertarian allies,” and that he also “backtracked on plans to scrap the nation’s health ministry.”
Moreover, The Telegraph noted, Milei told politicians during his inaugural address he didn’t want to “persecute anyone or settle old vendettas,” and gave ministry positions to a former adversary and her running mate.
However, it appears Milei wasn’t bluffing about taking an ax to Argentina’s government ministries. On Monday, he signed a decree to chop the number of ministries from 19 to 9.
A self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” Milei is moving ahead with his plans to revive Argentina’s flailing economy and warned that his tough economic solutions were going to hurt in the short term.
“The bottom line is that there is no alternative to austerity and there is no alternative to shock treatment,” he said. “We know that in the short term the situation will worsen. But then we will see the fruits of our efforts.”