Environmental governance and participation: mining and forest protection in Argentina

CHRISTEL, LUCAS G.; GUTIÉRREZ, RICARDO A.

San Martín, Buenos Aires

Simposio; 2023 Annual Meeting of the Red Eurolatinoamericana de Gobernabilidad para el Desarrollo; 2023

RedGob

Latin America is a key region for understanding environmental dynamics. On the one hand, the region is highly biodiverse, and natural resource-based economies are crucial for sustaining national development and rent distribution. On the other hand, Latin America is a scenario of significant levels of environmental participation and a space of relevant innovations in environmental policy. Building on our previous studies on environmental participation (Christel & Gutiérrez 2017, 2021, 2023), this project focuses on how environmental governance can address environmental demands in the region. While most governance arrangements focus on institutional participation, environmental participation in the region is mostly contentious and conflicting. We discuss this tension between governance and participation by analyzing two relevant areas in Argentina: mining and forest protection.