LAST UPDATED: OCT/21. Argentina submitted its Second Nationally Determined Contribution in December 2020 and, in October 2021, an Update to its Net Emissions Target for 2030. To date, Argentina has not submitted a new NDC with targets for 2035, as envisaged by the Paris Agreement's update cycle.

Argentina's current climate commitments establish an unconditional target for 2030, representing an improvement over the previous 2016 NDC. However, these targets have faced questioning given the country's political and economic uncertainty. It is worth noting that these updates were presented before the current government of Javier Milei, who took office in December 2023.

The country's climate governance is institutionalized through the National Cabinet on Climate Change (GNCC), which coordinates action between the national government, the provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, drawing on multisectoral participation bodies such as the Federal Coordinating Board. Planning is guided by 17 cross-cutting principles that integrate the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs, just transition, human rights, gender and diversity perspectives, interculturality and environmental education.

Under the motto of "building back better" after the pandemic, Argentina's second NDC presents significant advances in the country's climate ambition by adopting an absolute, unconditional, economy-wide target, setting a net emissions ceiling of 349 MtCO₂e for 2030. This target represents a 27.7% increase in ambition relative to the previous NDC and a 21% reduction compared to the historical emissions peak of 2007.

The NDC also sets out sectoral strategies for emissions reduction and productive transformation. In the energy sector, it promotes a just transition geared toward energy efficiency, renewable energy and distributed generation, using natural gas as a transition fuel in flexible thermal plants while advancing nuclear, hydropower and hydrogen sources. The transport sector adopts the "Avoid-Shift-Improve" approach, prioritizing efficiency and the expanded use of electricity, natural gas, hydrogen and biofuels. In land use, agriculture, livestock and forestry, the goal is to curb deforestation through strict enforcement of the Native Forests Environmental Protection Law, while also expanding cultivated forests and raising productive yields through bioeconomy and innovation. Lastly, the waste sector prioritizes the development of infrastructure for integrated municipal solid waste management and the circular economy, while the National GHG Inventory System (INGEI) undergoes continuous improvement to accurately reflect national mitigation efforts.

Despite the improvement, the latest Climate Action Tracker (CAT, 2026) assessment classifies Argentina's NDC as "Critically insufficient," indicating that current policies are not consistent with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C limit and could lead to warming of up to 4°C. Under the administration of President Javier Milei, the assessment points to institutional backsliding, with the former Ministry of Environment downgraded to sub-secretariat status and the imposition of budget cuts that generate strong uncertainty about the continuity of previous climate policies and commitments.

In addition, criticism concerns the continued heavy investment in the fossil fuel sector, especially the Vaca Muerta LNG terminal (estimated at US$30 billion), which runs counter to the need for decarbonization. While the NDC attempts to balance climate targets with natural gas exploration—treating it as a transition fuel—outside analysts consider this stance a clear contradiction, assessing that the aggressive expansion of fossil infrastructure makes meeting official targets highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, current projections indicate that additional, more stringent policies are essential to curb deforestation and effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Should such supplementary measures not be adopted, the country's emissions risk exceeding the target set for 2030 by up to 15%.

The Argentine Republic submitted to the UNFCCC its first Long-Term Low-Emission Resilient Development Strategy (LTS) through 2050, consolidating climate action as a state policy and reinforcing its commitment to the Paris Agreement. This strategy deepens and continues the efforts initiated in the Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of 2020 and the 2021 update to its mitigation target. The document aligns post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery strategies with national climate action, despite a recessionary context, heavy external debt and socioeconomic challenges. From a regulatory standpoint, the LTS is grounded in National Law No. 27,520, enacted on November 20, 2019, which establishes minimum adaptation and mitigation standards and creates the National Cabinet on Climate Change (GNCC) as the main body for interjurisdictional and participatory coordination.

Among the LTS's main goals are the effort to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across all economic sectors, in a manner compatible with human development and poverty eradication, in addition to reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening social, economic and environmental resilience with a focus on gender and intergenerational equity. For adaptation, priority risks were identified with a macro-systemic focus in conjunction with the provinces, including improving access to and sustainable management of water, reducing damage to coastal and port habitats and infrastructure from extreme events, reducing health impacts caused by heat waves and floods, reducing endemic diseases, ensuring physical connectivity and energy access in the face of extreme events, increasing the resilience of family, peasant and Indigenous agriculture, reducing losses in tourism, and mitigating damage to ecosystems from wildfires.

The framework for action is structured around six lines—transformation of the energy, food and forestry, transport, industrial production and tourism, and urban and territorial systems, as well as the protection and restoration of natural systems—supported by four cross-cutting approaches (gender and diversity, integrated risk management, health under a "One Health" approach, and just labor transition) and five instrumental lines, such as financing for the transition, climate empowerment action based on the Escazú Agreement, institutional strengthening, research, development and innovation, and communication for awareness-raising and cultural change. To implement these measures, Argentina highlights the need to mobilize financial resources from the State, multilateral banks and the private sector, emphasizing the fundamental role of additional international financing and non-repayable funds that do not increase the country's external debt, under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Although the Long-Term Strategy sets the goal of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT, 2026) assessment rates Argentina's net-zero target as "poor." According to the analysis, the plan lacks operational clarity, transparency and detail regarding the role of carbon removals and sectoral planning instruments, limiting the robustness of the strategy's alignment with global climate objectives.