The cost of development in Argentina

Environmental issues are something we are going to be dealing a lot with in our lifetimes because there are already signs of climate change and environmental degradation. Developing countries are becoming a huge part of this as they build up their industry.  South American countries like Brazil and Argentina are contributing to that as they continue to grow and develop.

According the Foundation for Sustainable Development, Argentina faces environmental issues typical of developing countries such as poor air and water quality, deforestation and soil degradation. While there are current laws in place to help fix these environmental problems they are rarely enforced. They also face the problem that all developing countries face which is the importance of economic growth verses preservation of the environment. Currently, Argentina is siding with the former and promoting the growth of the economy without any concern for the potential cost of such actions.

An example of trees being cut down in Argentina for a factory

Clean drinking water is a huge problem in Argentina right now. With the development of the country and a growing population, they have very little safe water. For example, Buenos Aires has exhausted its aquifers and relies solely on the Rio de la Plata for water. Regrettably it shares this river with Uruguay who has companies polluting this river and threatening the supply of drinking water. Water.org is not involved in Argentina yet but I would not be surprised if they are so in the future as the country runs completely out of safe drinking water.

Map of Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uraguay

Deforestation is also another environmental issue as two thirds of Argentina’s forsts have been destroyed to make way for the construction of homes and industries. Currently, experts predict that all of Argentina’s native forests will be gone by 2024. Along with this, the burning of the forests is currently producing more greenhouse gas than cars in Argentina right now, further contributing to the poor air quality. There are also unsafe amounts of lead in certain parts of Argentina. Almost 60% of children in provinces in the country have high levels of lead in their blood and have also seeped into the soil.

Greenpeace is active in Argentina and mostly fights against corporations who pollute the environment. They recently fought against a miningcompany who may have polluted a water supply outside Buenos Aires with cyanide. The judge lifted the ban on the company to halt all operations, stating the amount spilled was negligible, and lawyers from Greenpeace have been fighting that decision. They claim it is too early to know how much cyanide has been spilled and if it poses a threat to people.

Greenpeace Argentina protesting deforestation 

From what I’ve read about Argentina as a whole, it appears that the environmental is very low on the government’s priority list and it is most likely because they refuse to hinder the huge payouts from industrial development and there is a good chance corruption contributes to environmental laws not being enforced. However when deforestation is so bad that they predict all native forests will be gone in less than 10 years, you wonder at what cost is this development happening.