Right-wing President Javier Milei steps down Argentinathe current campaign delegation Cop29 UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

This decision, confirmed by the leaders of the delegation, means that the South American country will no longer participate in the UN climate negotiations which should result in a treaty next week.

It is unclear whether Argentina will leave the Paris Agreement completely.

The delegation was ordered to cease negotiations on Wednesday evening, Climate reported, just hours after the summit’s high-level leaders’ speeches section concluded. Another delegation from the country, which was due to arrive in Baku next week, was asked to cancel its plan.

Argentina’s move adds to growing concerns about the influence of right-wing leaders on global climate commitments. Hopes for Cop29 have already been dampened by Donald Trumpthe return of as President of the United States and fears he could withdraw the U.S. once again of the Paris Agreement.

Mr. Milei’s decision to withdraw from Cop29 is in line with his political position and his intention to strengthen ties with the United States. The Argentine president is a climate science denier and calls the climate crisis a “socialist lie.”

After the withdrawal of the state delegation, Argentina will only be represented at the Baku summit by civil society and private sector groups, meaning the country will be excluded from crucial negotiations.

“More than 50 people from various sectors continue to actively participate in Cop29, promoting Argentina’s climate agenda in a difficult context. » Sustainability without borders (SSF), an independent organization in the country, said in a statement.

Activists said Milei’s decision was not in Argentina’s own interests, particularly because the summit’s main goal is to create a fund to benefit countries in the South.

A spokesperson for Greenpeace Andino, the South American branch of the international NGO, said: “Withdrawing from the decision-making process on an issue as sensitive and critical as funding is a lost opportunity for those who stand to benefit from the agreements reached. in Baku. »

Mr Milei’s decision “isolates Argentina from the international community” and “sends a negative signal to investors and businesses”, SSF said.

Some activists in Baku said they were “shocked” by the decision, but added that it would not deter them from defending the interests of the country and the region as a whole.

“We experienced changes of government during the COPs,” said climate activist Maria Azul Schvartzman. The Independent in Baku. “But we have shown some consistency in our foreign policy on climate change.”

This time, she said, it was “shocking because we thought we had ground rules that didn’t change.”

The Milei administration, she added, “shows time and time again, on different issues, that these ground rules do not exist and that the agreements that we thought we had as a society no longer exist.”

At the September General Assembly, Mr. Milei criticized the UN for trying to “impose an ideological agenda” and move Argentina away from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “We are at the end of a cycle. The collectivism and moral values ​​of the woke agenda have crashed in the face of reality and do not offer credible solutions to the world’s problems,” he said.

His administration moved to distance Argentina from trading partners led by left-wing leaders such as Cuba and Venezuela. He fired Foreign Minister Diana Mondino after she voted to lift the U.S. embargo against Cuba at the United Nations.

Mr. Milei threatened to withdraw Argentina from the Paris agreement during his campaign, but did not follow through during his first year in office.

The decision to withdraw the delegation from Cop29 came just after Mr Milei spoke with Mr Trump. Mr Milei’s spokesman said the new US president had told his Argentine counterpart that he was his “favorite president”.

He is expected to attend a Conservative Political Action Conference meeting at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and meet the new president, according to CNN.

Argentina is not the only country to skip Cop29. Papua New Guinea is not participating in the negotiations in Baku in protest, taking a position in favor of the small island nations.

“We will no longer tolerate empty promises and inaction as our people suffer the devastating consequences of climate change,” Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said before the summit.

French Ecology Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told the French Senate on Wednesday that she would not participate in climate negotiations, after what she called “unacceptable” attacks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev against his country in a speech on Tuesday.

Mr Aliyev accused France of “brutally” suppressing concerns about the climate crisis in its overseas territories.

Although the French delegation is present at the summit, the country has no high-ranking ministers present. Mr Macron had already decided to skip the summit and Ms Pannier-Runacher was the oldest delegate expected.

“After discussion and in agreement with the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, I will not go to Baku next week,” she declared.