President Javier Milei ordered Argentine officials to withdraw from the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday. At the time of writing, the government had not provided specific reasons for the sudden withdrawal, and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to the Herald’s requests for comment.

According to the Herald’s sister publication Ambito, at least three government representatives from the Foreign Ministry and the Tourism Ministry were given a “non-negotiable” order to suspend all activities and return to Argentina. The officials in question had not been allowed to participate in the debates of the summit during the two days prior. Delegates sent by Argentine provinces were permitted to stay behind in Baku.

“Without knowing the reasons why Argentina has withdrawn from negotiations, this decision is unprecedented and signifies a change in direction in the country’s international negotiations. Argentina has always stood out for being active and assertive in international negotiations. This change won’t be innocuous, it will have significant consequences for Argentina, and I don’t see that they will be positive,” said Andrés Nápoli, executive director of Argentine environmental nonprofit FARN, in a press release.

Milei has consistently denied the existence of the climate crisis. In his UN General Assembly debut, he excoriated what he described as the organization’s “collectivist” agenda, taking particular aim against the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Pact for the Future, which asks member countries to commit to act on issues including climate change.

The UN COP29 is a multilateral summit where government, business, and civil society leaders coalesce to negotiate new goals and solutions to combat the climate crisis. This year’s summit is known as the “finance COP” due to the primary focus being on establishing a new global climate finance target — the existing  US$100 billion goal is due to expire in 2025 and opens potential financing opportunities as a result.

Napoli suggested that the surprise move correlated with Donald Trump’s recent reelection pointing to “those who want to have a market economy without any type of restrictions.” Milei is set to travel to the United States later this week and Trump allegedly referred to the Argentine president as “his favorite.”

The sudden withdrawal of the Argentine delegation also comes under the purview of the new Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, sworn in by the president two weeks ago with the explicit goal of closer alignment with the United States and Israel. 

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