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Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) 

Argentina
Argentina
Country Overview 

Argentina is considered a high-income economy with a GDP of USD 600 billion in 2016 and a population of over 44 million. In the last decades, the country has experienced marked growth in its agriculture and food sectors, which account for 54 percent of its land use, as well as playing a strategic role in the socio-economic development of the country, with 54 percent of employment. Agriculture and animal husbandry and fragile ecosystems are also especially vulnerable to the intensification of extreme climate events, affecting the production and supply of food on a national and global scale. The country is considered a top emitter for agriculture, forestry and other land use sectors, contributing to 2.1 percent of the global emissions, and with domestic emissions made up of  livestock (21.6 percent), agriculture (5.8 percent) and land use change and forestry (9.8 percent). 


Argentina’s climate change plans and priorities

In 2016, Argentina submitted its nationally determined contribution (NDC) that identified several agriculture-related priorities. Argentina has prioritized the development of adaptive capacities and the promotion of agriculture’s strategic role as a solution to climate change. In 2020, the country signed the new United Nations Strategic Cooperation Framework (2021-2025) and confirmed its interest in pushing forward the agenda that seeks to enhance ambition and catalyse action for land use and agriculture. 

Argentina submitted its second NDC in December 2020, ratifying a more ambitious commitment to the Paris Agreement and outlining a more specific and broader role for adaptation, with the national goal of decreasing 19 percent of its total GHG emissions by 2030. The country has committed to elaborate its Long-Term Climate Strategy by the end of 2021. In August 2022, a "super Ministry" of Economy was established, combining the portfolios of Economy, Productive Development, Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. 

The key priorities communicated for the agriculture and land-use sector focus mainly on enhancing adaptation measures, strengthening the role of agribusiness as a source of solutions to climate change, integrating agro-industrial production, and encouraging the development of process and product technologies. To support the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, Argentina is implementing the Readiness Project for the NAP Process, financed by the Green Climate Fund and implemented by UNDP.

Along with these actions, the country aims to strengthen the implementation of Minimum Budgets for the Environmental Protection of Native Forests, as well as achieve a substantial reduction in the deforestation rate. To support this goal the country implements the National Forest Management Plan with Integrated Livestock (MBGI), the Forest Watershed Plans and Comprehensive Community Plans (PIC), and the National Forest Extension System and the Deforestation Early Warning System (SAT). By 2030, the country also expects to deepen the development of fire, flood, and drought prevention measures - of great importance for the agricultural, livestock, and forestry sectors.

Overcoming barriers in the implementation of climate plans

Argentina faces different types of barriers in achieving its adaptation and mitigation goals. There is a lack of planning for sustainable management of native forests and agrifood systems. There are gaps in the articulation between managing bodies/ministries, as well as inefficient bureaucratic financing channels; and there are difficulties for producers in accessing financing. The objective of the NAP in Argentina is to carry out the process in a participatory manner across managing bodies and ministries. The process requires economic efforts to ensure the full participation of all representatives and to support them in parallel processes for formulating provincial plans.   

 

SCALA in action

Argentina’s agriculture is highly innovative and has much to offer in terms of win-win climate actions. It has great potential to scale up actions and production processes that will simultaneously mitigate emissions and enhance resilience to improve productivity. Argentina is one of the 100 countries being supported by UNDP’s Climate Promise to enhance their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The country is also part of FAO’s Sub-Regional Project on "Low Emission Livestock, a contribution to the Sustainable Development of the Sector in South America”, and many other projects related to climate management. 

 

SCALA is supporting a transitional shift of the agricultural sector in Argentina, by improving its production models in the agricultural (maize) and livestock beef sector, promoting environmentally sustainable innovative low-carbon models and productive practices, and increasing its resilience, efficiency, and access to sustainable markets. The project is focusing its work on the Pampas region. The Pampas region is amongst the most important productive regions within the country. By implementing adaptation and mitigation measures at a regional level, SCALA is supporting Argentina in building the evidence-based case for the implementation of an innovative climate-sensitive model for the agriculture productive sector that could be replicated and scaled up in other regions of the country.  

SCALA’s work in Argentina is aligned with the country’s NDCs that recognize the role that agro-industrial production has and will continue to have in the country due to its significant contribution to national GDP as well as to be an important source of employment as well as to its commitment to the Global Methane Pledge. 

Moving ahead - 2025 and beyond

Moving ahead, with the support of the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and the Undersecretary of Environment, the SCALA programme is: 

  • Working to improve how greenhouse gas emissions are measured, particularly in beef production, using data tailored to Argentina’s national and regional context. This will support the country’s updated climate commitments in 2025.  
  • The programme is also analyzing how climate-smart farming practices used across the country can contribute to both adaptation and emissions reduction. 
  • In the Pampas region, SCALA is assessing agricultural risks and climate vulnerabilities, exploring the potential for an agricultural insurance system, and encouraging public-private collaboration through dedicated roundtables.  
  • Partnerships with national agricultural organizations, including AACREA and APRESID, are helping to build private sector knowledge, promote low-carbon and climate-resilient farming systems, and improve soil health through better tracking of soil organic carbon. 
  • All this work is being done by building on existing successful experiences in the country, benefiting from existing public-private partnerships, and establishing an inclusive, multi-stakeholder process that can meet the unique needs of smallholder farmers, rural communities, women, and youth to ensure the overall success of Argentina's climate action agenda.