Macron presses Milei on climate action, multilateralism during talks

French leader Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of international action on climate change during talks on Saturday with President Javier Milei that included a private dinner.

Milei, a fervent admirer of Donald Trump and climate change sceptic, caused fears for the future of the 2015 Paris accord on global warming this week after pulling his country from the COP29 climate change conference underway in Azerbaijan.

The snub came a day before Argentina’s leader met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the first foreign leader to visit the Republican since his re-election which Milei hailed as "the greatest political comeback in history."

Argentina's rejection of the COP talks has sparked fears it could walk away from the landmark 2015 Paris deal on slashing emissions, as Trump did during his first presidential term.

Macron, a passionate defender of multilateralism, will attempt to convince Milei to continue to back "the international consensus" on global issues, including climate change, Macron's aides said before his talks with Milei.

‘We don't always think the same way on many issues, but it's very useful to debate,” said Macron, a fervent advocate of multilateralism, in a video from his plane posted on social media. 

“We are going to talk about our commercial interests, our trade, the defence of our agriculture and our farmers,” he added.

The French centrist later shared dinner with Milei at the Quinta de Olivos presidential residence after his arrival in Buenos Aires at 9pm local time. 

Milei’s sister, presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei, and Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macron, also attended the supper.

More formal talks are set for Sunday at the Casa Rosada.

The two will then travel separately to the G20 Leaders Summit held on Monday and Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, where President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – who has a strained relationship with Milei – will host.

Macron will also visit a church this Sunday at 9am to pay tribute to two French nuns, Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet, who were assassinated during Argentina’s brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Milei has been accused by his critics of holding a “denialist” attitude towards the dictatorship and its abuses during the era of state terrorism. 

‘A test’

"This will be a test for Macron and his political clout," Oscar Soria, a leading Argentine climate activist, told AFP.

"If he can't convince Milei to stay in the Paris Agreement, then that would show he's not having the same halo as he used to have in Latin America," Soria said, adding he feared a "chain" of withdrawals by South American countries from the Paris deal if Argentina walked away.

Macron tried but failed to use his persuasive powers to keep Trump in the Paris accord in 2017 and also clashed with Brazilian former president Jair Bolsonaro over rampant deforestation in the Amazon during his 2019-2023 rule.

But since losing his relative majority in the French Parliament in July elections his clout has been significantly diminished both at home and abroad.

He is one of the few foreign leaders to visit Milei since the Argentine's election last year on promise to slash public spending, which has earned him the admiration of both Trump and his billionaire consigliere Elon Musk.

Macron's advisors said he will also use the visit to explain France's dogged resistance to a trade pact between the European Union and four South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pushing to get the deal, which has been 25 years in the making, over the line by the end of the year, with or without France.

Farmers in France and a number of other European countries, however, fear the deal will see the EU flooded with cheaper agricultural goods, including Brazilian and Argentine beef.

After his visits to Argentina and the G20 Leaders Summit, Macron will visit Chile.

– TIMES/AFP/NA