Overview
- Argentina's Congress approved a law that gives provinces the power to set glacier protections and lets them reclassify buffer zones to allow mining.
- President Javier Milei backed the overhaul to attract large lithium and copper projects and said environmentalism stands in the way of progress.
- Environmental groups and some UN rapporteurs warn the change weakens water safeguards because glacier‑area mining consumes large volumes of water and can damage ice.
- Protests followed outside Congress after the vote, and police arrested seven Greenpeace activists who climbed a statue to hang a banner.
- Argentina’s glaciers feed 36 river basins that supply about seven million people, which raises concern over how provinces will apply the new rules.