glaciers,press |
March 27, 2026

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A record-breaking 100,000 people were left out of a glacier law reform debate in Argentina where President Milei’s government is proposing to give provinces the discretion of determining which glaciers and permafrost regions are relevant hydrological reserves and which could be sacrificed for mining investments. The proposed reforms to the world’s first and only Glacier Protection Law aims to lift legal barriers to dozens of mining projects that have already impacted and will further destroy glacier and periglacial areas if they were to advance.

Nearly 102,000 people from a diverse base of Argentina’s population, including environmental groups, business organizations, Indigenous communities, academics, scientists, provincial environmental authorities, agricultural associations, and just everyday people, registered for a public hearing called by Congress to discuss proposed reforms to the law. Most wanted to express their opposition to the reforms, particularly to sacrificing key water sources and basin hydrology regulation provided by glaciers in particularly dry mountain environments to favor international mining projects, which have provided little in the way of development and progress in the country.

Mining investments waiting idly for reforms to the law include Vicuña (BHP), El Pachon (Glencore), Los Azules (McEwen Mining/Rio Tinto), and Pascua Lama (Barrick Gold). Despite the massive public response and request to engage in the Congressional debate, only a few hundred (less than 0.3% of the registered participants) were given the opportunity to speak at the public hearing held on March 25, 2026.

Argentina’s Glacier Protection Law protects thousands of Argentina’s glaciers, but also protects permafrost areas in the “periglacial environment”. Both glaciers and permafrost areas are critical hydrological reserves, and their slow melt during warmer months provide critical water supply to downstream basins that stretch across the country. The law was first passed unanimously in 2008 but received a presidential veto by then President Kirchner/Fernandez as it was revealed that protecting glaciers would make dozens of proposed mining investments illegal in provinces such as San Juan, La Rioja and Catamarca. Then Environment Minister Romina Picolotti, who spear-headed the treatment of the law in Congress, and included provisions of the law for strict mining controls over glacier impacts, resigned with the veto, dubbed by many, “the Barrick Veto”. Following two years of Congressional debate, the Glacier Law was reconstituted in 2010 as the world’s first and only glacier law.

Argentina’s Glacier Law was an immediate no-go for dozens of mining projects in the high Central Andes, the likes of El Pachon which is entirely projected on permafrost grounds, now protected by law. Projects like El Pachon (Glencore), Los Azules (McEwen/Rio Tinto), Vicuña (BHP), and many others currently in consideration in these icy mountain environments cannot currently advance without major changes to the glacier law, which is why Milei’s government is proposing reforms.

And even if the glacier law were to be reformed as proposed, there is strong indication that such reform would be constitutionally contested by environmental groups and industries that depend on glacier water for their production processes. Opposition to the reform of the law also highlights that the reform would undermine Argentina’s commitment to the principle of not reversing environmental protections, such as those constituted in the Escazu Agreement. Argentina’s Supreme Court has already ruled against companies like Barrick Gold which tried to skirt the glacier law and failed.

The few individuals that were allowed to speak at the Congressional hearing on proposed reforms to the glacier law, were overwhelmingly against the proposed reforms. The only voices in favor of the law were a handful of mining sector representatives, and a single retiring glaciologist, who before surprised gazes from the audience, suggested that permafrost regions have little or no hydrological value. His comments are perhaps understandable considering he is a past consultant of hired by Barrick Gold, a chief opponent of the glacier law.

The over 100,000 registered participants of the hearing that were excluded from the hearing, are claiming that the hearing (and the proposed reforms to the glacier law) are violating the law, the international agreements signed by Argentina and the Argentine constitution.

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