Law 27,520 on climate change adaptation and mitigation (Argentina)

Law 27,520 on minimum standards for global climate change adaptation and mitigation is the law that organises Argentina's climate policy. Article 1 sets the minimum environmental protection standards needed to guarantee adequate adaptation and mitigation actions, instruments and strategies. It was passed on 20 November 2019, published in the Official Gazette on 20 December 2019 and implemented by Decree 1030/2020.

The point to grasp first: Law 27,520 is a climate governance law, not a corporate reporting law. It sets out what the state must do; it does not oblige a private company to calculate or disclose its emissions.

What a minimum standards law is

Article 41 of Argentina's Constitution splits environmental competence: the federal government issues laws containing minimum protection standards and the provinces supplement them, without the federal rules overriding local jurisdiction. Law 27,520 belongs to that family, as does the General Environment Law 25,675.

For a company with plants in several provinces the consequence is direct: the federal government sets the floor, and each province sets the permits, inspections and deadlines you actually have to meet.

The instruments the law creates

• National Climate Change Cabinet (article 7): the inter-ministerial body chaired by the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers that coordinates climate policy across government. It is where the national plan and the country's contributions are approved.
• National Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plan (article 16): the central policy instrument, with adaptation and mitigation measures and their targets. The law sets a maximum update cycle of five years.
• National Climate Change Information System (article 17): the system that organises the country's climate information and underpins the robustness and transparency of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
• External Advisory Council: a permanent consultative body supporting the National Cabinet.
• Provincial response plans: each jurisdiction prepares its own, with its own targets and measures, aligned with the national plan.

The national enforcement authority is the executive branch's environmental body. That function currently sits with the Subsecretaría de Ambiente, within the Chief of Cabinet's office, which provides the technical coordination of the National Climate Change Cabinet.

The plan in force

The second National Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plan 2022-2030 was approved by Resolution 146/2023 of what was then the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, published on 24 April 2023, after the National Cabinet approved it on 1 November 2022. It contains the country's sectoral measures and, within it, the National Strategy for the Use of Carbon Markets.

What Law 27,520 means for a company

The law creates no emissions registry for companies and no reporting threshold. Argentina has no equivalent to Mexico's National Emissions Registry. What it does produce are four concrete effects:

1. A framework for mitigation projects. The carbon markets strategy relies on the National Registry of Mitigation Projects (ReNaMi), created by Resolution 363/2021, where emission reduction projects are registered. A company that wants to generate carbon credits in Argentina goes through it, and international transfers under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement require national government authorisation.
2. Sectoral and provincial follow-through. Measures in the national plan and in provincial response plans turn into sectoral rules, permit conditions and efficiency programmes that do reach the plant.
3. Traceability of the national target. The national contribution is measured against the national inventory, which is built from sectoral statistics. The tighter the target, the more pressure on energy-intensive sectors.
4. Market spillover. Banks, investors and international customers ask for emissions data even though the law does not require it. That is the main reason an Argentine company measures its carbon footprint today.

What this law does not do

Frequently asked questions

Does Law 27,520 require companies to report emissions?

No. The law organises the state's climate policy and sets no measurement or reporting obligations for the private sector. The environmental obligations that do reach a company come from Law 25,675, from sectoral rules on waste, effluents and emissions, and from provincial permits.

Has Law 27,520 been implemented by decree?

Yes, by Decree 1030/2020, published in December 2020, which develops how the National Climate Change Cabinet and the law's instruments operate.

How often is the National Adaptation and Mitigation Plan updated?

The law sets a maximum update cycle of five years. The plan in force is the second one, approved by Resolution 146/2023 for the 2022-2030 period.

How does it relate to the Paris Agreement?

It is the domestic vehicle Argentina uses to organise compliance with its commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Nationally determined contributions are agreed within the National Cabinet created by this law.

If your company operates in Argentina and needs emissions data traceable back to source documents, even before the law asks for it, start with our carbon footprint solution.