Ice under pressure: Argentina’s controversial Glacier Reform

Marta Cangini, Lucrezia Di Bona and Sofia Simoni

On 9th April 2026, the Argentine Congress approved a controversial reform of the Glacier Law (Law 26,639), proposed by Javier Milei’s government. The legislation reduces environmental protections, permitting extractive activities in glacial and periglacial areas, and granting the provinces greater autonomy over protected zones. 

The "Ley Nacional de Glaciares", approved in 2010 after years of mobilization against the mining lobby, established glaciers and periglacial areas as public goods of strategic importance. Its constitutionality was confirmed in 2019, when Argentina's Supreme Court urged the national government and the provinces to reach a "federal agreement" on environmental governance, a debate closely linked to Article 124 of the Argentine Constitution, which grants provinces sovereignty over their natural resources. 

The glaciers of the Andes are strategic freshwater reserves and fragile ecosystems. Today, they are at the centre of growing political and mining interests, while the government seeks to attract foreign investment and revive the national economy. 

Map of water reserves, Parque Nacional de los Glaciares, photo by Sofia Simoni.

Glaciers as the beating heart of Argentina 

Argentina's landscape is characterised by tropical forests in the north and by the arid steppe in Patagonia, but it is the Andes that carry the greatest weight. This is what makes the country's dependency on glaciers inevitable. 

Argentina's glaciers are not merely part of the landscape: they are part of the foundational structure of the land and of Argentine life. More than a third of the country's territory is covered by 16,968 glaciers in total. For the population, this means drinking water, irrigation systems and thousands of jobs in agricultural production. 

The Andean glaciers are the last line of defence against drought for the farmlands that feed not just Argentina, but a significant share of the world. The National Glacier Inventory, run by IANIGLA (the Argentine Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences), also monitors periglacial environments where the ground remains partially frozen year-round. These areas act as natural sponges, releasing water gradually into rivers and streams. 

For over a decade, the law kept all of this protected. The National Glacier Law strictly prohibited extraction in glacial and periglacial areas, classifying glaciers as strategic freshwater reserves. Other nations looked up to it. 

The reform passed in April 2026 has recast glaciers as strategic extraction reserves, transferring decision-making power to individual provincial governments. The risk is that choices will be driven more by economic interests than by environmental protection. Critics, including Greenpeace Argentina, warn that provinces with strong ties to the mining sector will have every incentive to exploit the new definition of glaciers. They could exclude periglacial zones from protection entirely and contaminate water sources without ever touching the glaciers directly. 

The stakes are already high without any additional pressure. Glacial reserves in the country's northwest have already shrunk by 17 percent due to climate change. Extractive operations in these already fragile areas threaten to worsen a crisis that is already underway. 

"Without water," said Agostina Rossi Serra, a biologist at Greenpeace Argentina, "we cannot even think about a growth and development project". 

The environmental consequences extend well beyond water supply. High-altitude wetlands, vegas and peatlands - ecosystems sustained by glacial meltwater - harbour a form of biodiversity that exists nowhere else on Earth. A report by Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina found that more than half of the country's vertebrate species live in regions connected to glaciers. 

A glacier, unlike a mine or a pipeline, cannot be rebuilt. It accumulates over centuries, shaped by conditions that no human technology can replicate. Previous legislation understood this. However, the new reform has chosen to look for a compromise. It may take decades for Argentina’s environment and communities to determine whether that compromise was acceptable. But by the time they do, will recovery still be possible? 

Argentina Natural Resources. Conceptual map generated with AI assistance via ChatGPT.

The Price of Economic Recovery 

Nobel winning economist Simon Kuznet once said that “there are four types of economics: developed, underdeveloped, Japan, and Argentina”. 

As a matter of fact, Argentina is a country with a long history of economic and political instability: the state declared nine times bankruptcy, three of which over the last twenty years. With 30 percent of the population living below the poverty line and widespread corruption, the trust of citizens and investors is constantly being tested.  

Now the government has to face yet another crisis, started in 2023. For this reason, President Milei claims that modifying the Glacier Law was a necessary step to attract mining companies and boost the country’s economy.  

Indeed, the natural resources found in glacier areas (mainly lithium, copper, and gold) are all essential components for batteries that are becoming increasingly relevant for the ecological transition. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, four of the world’s twelve largest copper mining projects are currently located in Argentina: this position in the geopolitical competition further expands the importance of these resources. 

Yet, all economic and strategic benefits come at a cost. The law was not only protecting glaciers as a beautiful natural landscape, but also because they are the source of water for many small towns located in those areas.  

Thousands of people took part in protests against the reform: disagreement is strong especially among young people and students. “Since the mining companies have the money, and the provinces need money, it’s more likely that all the provinces will agree to it” says Agustìn, a Political Science student of the University of Buenos Aires “It’s all part of the same libertarian economic model proposed by Milei: handing over everything we have to foreign capital”. 

It is clear that the debate over glaciers is about more than mining: it is about deciding whether economic recovery can coexist with environmental responsibility. 

Political change and social resistance 

The reform of Argentina's Glacier Protection Law represents a significant political shift in the country's environmental policy, but the conflict surrounding it did not begin with Javier Milei's government.  

The approval of the law itself was the result of intense social struggle: after a first version was vetoed in 2008 by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, environmental organizations, local communities and activists continued to pressure institutions until a stronger national framework for glacier protection was finally adopted. 

Against all odds the reform passed. “It was unexpected. Argentina has always played an active role in environmental conservation and has been aware of the impact of human activity on natural resources” says Pierina, who grew up in Patagonia and is a student of Communications and Media at the University of Buenos Aires. 

Mining provinces such as San Juan, Mendoza, Chubut and Santa Cruz - among the territories where protests have been the strongest - argued that provincial governments should determine where mining and hydrocarbon extraction can take place. In an effort to strengthen “environmental federalism”, Milei’s reform aims to reduce what the government describes as “arbitrary interpretations” of the law and transferring more autonomy to provincial authorities. 

Critics, however, claim that the reform effectively removes science from its central role in defining glaciers and periglacial areas, replacing environmental criteria with political and economic interests.  

The reform has triggered protests across Argentina, particularly among young people and environmental organizations. During the public hearings held in March 2026, around 120,000 citizens registered to participate, although only about 200 were actually allowed to speak, generating frustration and criticism over what many considered a merely partial democratic process.  

Demonstrations continued even after the approval of the reform, with legal complaints filed against the government and nearly 800,000 signatures collected in opposition to the law.  

Despite all these protests, many citizens do not fully understand the reform. “The issue is often politicized in public debate” Pierina points out “People go against the reform just because they are against the government. They do not really grasp the consequences”. 

The Hidden Cost of the Reform 

Argentina’s controversial reform reveals fundamental issues about environmental justice and political power in the fight against climate change.  

It's first of all Argentinians who pay the price, with their land, their water, their glaciers. But the reform is not merely a national debate: it reflects a global tension between economic development, the use of natural resources and environmental protection. It calls into question the very fairness of the green transition and the relationship between the Global North and South in managing the climate crisis.  

At a time when the ecological transition is being presented as a shared international priority, the Argentine case raises a crucial question: who is really bearing the cost of this transformation?  

Inscription recognizing the “Parque Nacional de los Glaciares” as global natural heritage, El Calafate (Santa Cruz), photo by Sofia Simoni.

References 

Argentina.gob.ar, Ley Nacional de Glaciares. https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ambiente/agua/glaciares/ley 

Inventario Nacional de Glaciares. https://ianigla.conicet.gov.ar/inventario-nacional-de-glaciares/  

Greenpeace, #SalvemosLosGlaciares. https://www.greenpeace.org/argentina/participa/glaciares-en-peligro/  

Greenpeace, “Cronología de nuestra campaña para defender los glaciares”. https://www.greenpeace.org/argentina/cronologia-glaciares/  

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France24, (2026), “Milei logra victoria legislativa con polémica reforma de glaciares para fomentar minería”. https://www.france24.com/es/am%C3%A9rica-latina/20260408-milei-logra-victoria-legislativa-con-pol%C3%A9mica-reforma-de-glaciares-para-fomentar-miner%C3%ADa 

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