Overview
- The Chamber of Deputies approved the reform Thursday after hours of debate, passing it 137–111 with three abstentions.
- The law shifts authority to provincial governments to define protected glacier and periglacial zones and to permit economic activity there.
- The text limits strict protection to ice and high‑mountain areas proven vital for water supply, which advocates warn risks shrinking water reserves that feed Andean watersheds.
- President Javier Milei welcomed what he called a return to environmental federalism and plans to speed mining projects, with the Central Bank projecting sector exports could triple by 2030.
- Environmental groups and opposition lawmakers announced lawsuits over the restricted public hearing and the reform’s clash with a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that treated glaciers as public goods.