ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sebastián P. Vedoya, Sergio Arbeleche and Dolores Cattaneo, Bruchou & Funes de Rioja
2.7 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Guidelines and Regulations Several Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) guidelines applicable to mining activ - ity have recently been introduced in Argentina. The Federal Government has lately issued (i) guidelines of good practices for mine closure, (ii) guidelines for mine closure with financial guarantees, (iii) guidelines for improvement pro - grammes for mining suppliers, and (iv) guidelines for rational management of mining waste. Also, Argentine regulations include provisions focused on ESG matters, which include consideration of social impacts in the context of environmental impact evaluation of projects, rational use of natural resources, and requirements of minimum local hiring and local procurement, among oth - ers. 2.8 Illegal Mining Illegal mining is not an issue in Argentina. 2.9 Good and Bad Examples of Community Relations/Consultation Impacting Mining Projects Mining projects sometimes face social oppo - sition in Argentina, most often related to envi - ronmental concerns (mainly, regarding water). It is recommended that community relations be properly handled from the very beginning, to prevent the conflict from escalating. A key tac - tic is allowing public participation and the early release of public information in a clear and plain manner. Frequently, when these matters are properly addressed, mining projects are developed as planned. However, there are some examples in Argentina in which social opposition was the main drawback on the development of a project
(eg, Chilecito and Famatina, La Rioja and El Des - quite, Chubut).
3. Climate Change, Energy Transition and Sustainable Development in Mining 3.1 Climate Change Effects
Currently, there are no relevant nationwide cli - mate change initiatives that meaningfully impact the mining industry in Argentina. 3.2 Climate Change Legislation and Proposals Related to Mining No climate change legislation related specifically to mining has been passed nationwide, nor is any currently being discussed. However, it is rel - evant to mention that Argentina has approved several regulations regarding climate change – eg, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Federal Law No 24,295), the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (Federal Law No 25,438), the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol (Federal Law No 27,137) and the Paris Agreement (Federal Law No 27,270). Moreover, the Climate Change Federal Cabinet was cre - ated in 2016 (Federal Decree No 891/2016). On 20 November 2019, the Federal Congress passed Law 27,520 setting up the minimum standards for the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. During 2020, the Federal Congress was active in discussing bills related to protection of wet - lands, which may eventually impact the mining industry. On 24 September 2020, the Federal Congress passed Law 27.566 approving the “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public
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