In brief
Argentina has passed legislation amending its Glacier Law to facilitate mining in glacier areas, a decision praised by some political figures as a means to stimulate provincial economies. However, environmental activists are alarmed, claiming it jeopardizes crucial water supplies. The previous law, enacted in 2010, restricted exploitation in glacier zones, designating them as essential water reserves. The reform delegates the authority to define protected areas to provincial governments, a shift that is viewed as detrimental to long-term environmental and water sustainability.
Argentina's Congress has passed a controversial amendment making it easier to mine in glacier regions, a move environmentalists say weakens protections for crucial water sources. The pioneering Glacier Law, approved in 2010, prohibited all mining and exploration activities in glacier regions by protecting them as water reserves.The reform shifts the responsibility of defining protected glacier areas from the Argentine Institute for Snow, Ice and Environmental Sciences (Ianigla) to the provincial governments. President Javier Milei, who backed the reform, said the change empower[s] the provinces to utilise their resources and allows mining activities where there was nothing to protect.Argentina's Senate had already approved the bill in February 2026, so approval by the lower house was the last major hurdle left. Opponents of the reform argued that it would put a fundamental resource - water - at risk. Without water, we can't even think about a growth and development project, Congresswoman Natalia de la Sota said.But a backer of the bill, Congresswoman Nancy Picón Martínez, expressed that the mining industry was being portrayed as if it were a monster. Following the reform, glaciers and periglacial environments will be protected by the national Ianigla inventory until provincial leaders prove they do not serve as strategic water reserves.There are 16,968 glaciers in Argentina, providing water to 36 river basins across 12 provinces, home to seven million people. Water from melted glaciers helps to reduce the impact of droughts, especially in semi-arid provinces like Mendoza, which are becoming more common due to climate change.Governors from the mineral-rich provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Mendoza and San Juan had expressed their support for the bill, stating the 2010 Glacier law hindered their goal of promoting a sustainable economic development of the provinces and the Nation without compromising future generations. However, critics, including environmentalists from Greenpeace, argue that not all glaciers and periglacial environments act as strategic water reserves, emphasizing their role in maintaining vital water systems.
