Argentina is entering 2026 amid mounting concern over environmental governance, as the national government advances a reform of the Glacier Protection Law while proposing a federal budget that significantly reduces funding for environmental protection and related public sectors.
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The bill amending the Glacier Law is currently before the Senate and is expected to be debated this week in Congress through extraordinary committees. In parallel, the proposed 2026 national budget introduces deep cuts to environmental, education, health, science and cultural programs, measures whose impacts, according to specialists, would extend well beyond the coming year.
Once considered a landmark piece of legislation with international relevance, the Glacier Protection Law is now being revised under what the government describes as a need for “regulatory order.” Environmental organizations argue that this framing conceals a substantial weakening of water protections at a time of accelerating climate impacts.
¡Grave retroceso ambiental en Tierra del Fuego-Argentina !
Tras fuerte influencia del gobierno de Milei, ayer 16 de diciembre de 2025, la Legislatura provincial aprobó la modificación de la Ley 1355, que desde 2021 prohibía la salmonicultura industrial en mares y lagos para… pic.twitter.com/vGWm3QMYct
— ❗️Defendamos Patagonia❗️ (@DefendamsChiloe) December 16, 2025
The Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers and the Ecosocial Justice Action Collective warned that the reform represents a serious setback for water protection in a context of climate crisis, rapid glacier retreat and increasing water stress across the country. According to these organizations, the proposal removes the law’s current automatic protection of glaciers and replaces it with a discretionary system. Under this framework, a simple declaration by a provincial authority could exclude a glacier from legal protection, enabling extractive activities.
The draft legislation also eliminates the explicit ban on mining in periglacial environments and removes national minimum environmental standards, which currently guarantee a baseline level of protection across Argentina. Environmental advocates stress that, instead of strengthening safeguards for water resources in response to climate change, the government is weakening the only regulation that clearly limits the expansion of large-scale mining at river headwaters.
Budget policy reinforces these concerns. The proposal submitted by the presidency allocates 9.5 percent of total spending to debt payments, while funding linked to the right to a healthy environment falls by as much as 92.8 percent. The government of President Javier Milei also plans to maintain tax exemptions for mining and subsidies for the hydrocarbons sector.
The Foundation for Environment and Natural Resources criticized the approach, stating that “this limited perspective does not incorporate preventive or adaptive principles in line with the current climate crisis.” Ariel Slipak, research coordinator at the foundation, said that “it is essential for Congress to promote a broad, participatory and informed debate capable of correcting the setbacks posed by the current bill. Argentina needs a budget that strengthens public institutions, reduces inequalities and affirms a clear commitment to the fulfillment of human and environmental rights.”
📌Las noticias sobre el cuidado ambiental no son las mejores para este 2026 en #Argentina🇦🇷: el proyecto de Ley de Glaciares está en el Senado, mientras que el Presupuesto 2026 trae fuertes recortes ambientales que podrán sufrirse en años.
🔴Una reforma a una ley de avanzada… pic.twitter.com/rofKK0TaSM
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) December 17, 2025
According to the budget bill, environmental programs would receive 51.506 billion pesos in 2026, a real-term decrease of 33.8 percent compared to 2025 and 79.5 percent compared to 2023, the last year with an approved national budget. Funding for the National Fire Management Service would total 20.131 billion pesos, representing a real decrease of 69 percent compared to 2023 and 53.6 percent compared to 2025.
As Congress prepares to debate both the glacier reform and the budget, environmental organizations warn that the combined legislative and fiscal changes risk undermining water protection and climate resilience at a critical moment for Argentina.
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