Argentina Exits Paris Climate Deal in Trump's Shadow

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, is considering withdrawing the South American nation from the Paris climate agreement that aims to curb planet-warming emissions, a drastic move that only one other world leader has made in the past: former President Donald J. Trump, who withdrew the United States during his first term.

The South American country is considering leaving the 2015 agreement as part of a broad reassessment of its climate policies, Argentina’s foreign minister said on Thursday.

Argentina’s review of the landmark climate deal comes as the world braces for an intended second withdrawal from the accords by President-elect Trump. If Mr. Milei also abandons the agreement, some worry it could set off a domino effect, prompting other countries to reconsider their own participation.

“We’re re-evaluating our strategy on all matters related to climate change,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “And so far, we haven’t made any other decision beyond standing down until things are clearer.”

A day earlier, Mr. Milei unexpectedly pulled out Argentina’s delegation from the annual United Nations climate conference, which is being hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is known as COP29 this year. In the past, Mr. Milei, a right-wing libertarian, has called the climate crisis a “socialist lie.”

A potential retreat by Argentina from the climate agreement would deal a major blow to the landmark Paris agreement at a crucial time in the global struggle to contain climate change.

Research shows that the earth has already warmed, mostly because of the burning of coal, oil and gas for energy, with the last decade being the hottest on record.

The United Nations has warned that nations must slash their emissions by 42 percent by 2030 and 57 percent by 2035 to keep temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels. Without these reductions, the world is on course for a temperature increase of 2.6 to 3.1 degrees Celsius over the course of this century, making it difficult for societies to cope.

The United States is the only nation to have ever withdrawn from the Paris agreement, which was adopted by 196 nations in 2015 in order to help reach those goals.