Argentine President Javier Milei took a stand against the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development during the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) held a few days ago in New York City. The leading figure of La Libertad Avanza argued that the plan approved in 2015 "failed" and accused the international organization of being "socialist" and of having taken "leftist" measures that led to "a tragic course." He announced that Argentina would abandon its "historical position of neutrality" to be at the forefront "of the fight in defense of freedom" and invited all countries to abandon the Future Pact to "embrace the Agenda for Freedom" promoted by his right-wing government. "Although well-intentioned in its goals, it is a supranational government program of a socialist nature, which seeks to solve the problems of modernity with solutions that threaten the sovereignty of nation-states and violate the right to life, liberty, and property." "The response should be to ask ourselves if it wasn't a poorly conceived program from the start, accept that reality, and change course."
“We cannot persist in error by doubling down on an agenda that has failed,” he added. These statements raised concerns within Argentina’s renewable energy sector, considering that one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—established in 2015—sets the goal of “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” This means it seeks to reduce pollution caused by fossil fuels and the ineffectiveness of governments in implementing clean and renewable energy, while also providing access to modern and sustainable energy sources, not only to address climate change but also for the economic growth of countries.39 In addition to the Argentine president’s stance before the UN, it should be noted that he has repeatedly denied the existence of climate change, stating that the issue is “a lie of socialism,” to the point that he eliminated the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development upon taking office. “What Milei proposed is quite absurd, but we must understand that it is part of a global movement, which some call the "new right", that rejects all the advances that modern capitalism has made.
This includes the rejection of the climate agenda and sustainable development.
It's a regressive idea that places Argentina in a strange position, out of step with the global conversation, said Juan Carlos Villalonga, president of GLOBE International, when consulted by Energía Estratégica. "Not meeting the SDGs signifies a flawed view of development, which puts us off the agenda of countries like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD - made up of 38 States); in addition, it means we are withdrawing from the international conversation and becoming isolated."
Unfortunately, this is a movement that has been brewing for some time in our country with the Santi Agenda 2030 speeches,” added the former national deputy (2015-2019). Furthermore, Milei’s denialist discourse also came just months before the next Conference of the Parties (COP) in Baku, Azerbaijan, a year after Argentina, at the COP 28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, endorsed the declaration to double energy efficiency actions and triple renewable energy , aiming to reach 11,000 GW by 2030 globally. This could also negatively impact the sector and jeopardize current and future investments in the country’s energy transition to cleaner, renewable sources. “All multilateral cooperation agencies and development banks align their financing objectives with the SDGs.”
"So I really hope they didn't take what Milei said too seriously, because if they did, we're screwed," Villalonga stressed.