Around late April 2026, a broad coalition of actors—including individuals who are members of citizen assemblies from various provinces across the country, together with civil society organizations such as the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers (Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas, AAdeAA), FARN, Greenpeace Argentina, Amnesty International, CELS, and CEPA—filed a collective amparo action before the Federal Court of Santa Rosa (La Pampa) against the National Government, seeking a declaration that Law No. 27,804 is unconstitutional and requesting an interim injunction ordering the immediate suspension of its application throughout the country.

Law No. 27,804, enacted on April 8, 2026, substantially amended Law No. 26,639 on Minimum Environmental Standards for the Preservation of Glaciers and the Periglacial Environment. Its main amendments consisted of: restricting the scope of protection by requiring glaciers to perform specific hydrological functions in order to fall under legal protection; transferring to provincial authorities the power to determine which glaciers and periglacial environments are to be protected, thereby displacing the scientific role previously assigned to the Argentine Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales, IANIGLA) under the former legislation; replacing the absolute prohibition on extractive activities in glacier areas with a prohibition subject exclusively to the provincial authorities' assessment of whether the activity ""significantly alters"" the ecosystem; and distorting the purpose of an instrument such as environmental impact assessment—effectively turning it into a means of authorizing all types of activities in this environment—and establishing strategic environmental assessment as an option available to provincial authorities.

The complaint sets out four grounds of unconstitutionality. First, it argues that the law violates the principle of environmental non-regression and progressive realization, as enshrined in Article 41 of the National Constitution and the Escazú Agreement, by manifestly reducing the level of protection previously attained. Second, it argues that the law dismantles the system of minimum environmental standards by delegating to the provinces the power to define the protected subject matter, thereby enabling what the plaintiffs refer to as ""environmental dumping"" among jurisdictions. Third, it contends that the law is incompatible with the MERCOSUR-EU Interim Trade Agreement, which entered into force on the same day that the Senate granted the bill preliminary approval and expressly prohibits weakening environmental protection standards in order to promote investment. Fourth, it argues that the legislative process was invalid because it failed to comply with the mandatory public participation standards established by the Escazú Agreement: the public hearing held in the Chamber of Deputies allowed fewer than 0.4% of the more than 102,000 registered participants to take part, under unreasonable deadlines and arbitrary selection criteria.

The complaint also incorporates climate-related arguments, contending that the weakening of protection for glaciers and periglacial environments is inconsistent with Law No. 27,520 on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, the Paris Agreement, and the commitments undertaken by Argentina in its First Biennial Transparency Report to the UNFCCC. It also invokes Advisory Opinion No. 32/2025 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which recognized the right to a healthy climate as an autonomous right and established that States must refrain from adopting regressive measures in climate and environmental matters. 

As of September 2026, the case remains pending.

Greenpeace Argentina et al. v. Argentina

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Greenpeace Argentina et al. v. Argentina - complaint

Filed

Argentina

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Action or measure that increases resilience of societal, cultural and natural heritage to climate change impacts.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Greenpeace Argentina et al. v. Argentina - complaint

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance