Yolanda's Law () is a national

law of Argentina The Legal system of Argentina is a civil law legal system. The pillar of the civil system is the Constitution of Argentina (1853). The Argentine Constitution of 1853 was an attempt to unite the unstable and young country of the United Provin ...

(Law 27.592) requiring mandatory environmental training for every member of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government. It was fully sanctioned and published in the '' Official Bulletin of the Argentine Republic'' on 15 December 2020.Official Gazette of the Argentina Republic
15 December 2020 It is an eponymous law named after chemist Yolanda Ortiz, the first Secretary of Natural Resources and Human Environment of Argentina, appointed by then-president

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

in 1973, who died in 2019 at the age of 94. The law specifies that this mandatory training must include information about

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, the protection of

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and ecosystems, energy efficiency and renewable energies, the

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

, as well as information related to current environmental regulations.Official Gazette of the Argentina Republic
15 December 2020 Though not stated in the law, the Argentine government decreed that the training must last a minimum of 16 hours.Yolanda's Law
Official State Portal of the Argentina Republic. Accessed 8 March 2024

History

The idea for the law was developed by 'Jovenes por el clima' (Youth for Climate) of

San Luis Province San Luis () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja, Córdo ...

, part of the

Fridays for Future Fridays for Future (FFF), also known as the School Strike for Climate ( ), is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand climate change mitigation, action from political le ...

movement. It was taken up by San Luis councillor Julieta Ponce, and presented on 5 June 2020 in the Senate by Eugenia Catalfamo, senator for the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") was a centre-left political coalition of political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gen ...

.Yolanda Law: a project to generate environmental awareness.
InterNos magazine. 15 December 2020 It had cross-party support from, in particular, Senator Gladys González from

Propuesta Republicana Republican Proposal (), usually referred to by its abbreviation PRO, is a political party in Argentina. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national party in 2010. It is the major component of the Juntos ...

.The Yolanda Law, a step in the defense of the planet
''Pagina 12''. November 19 2020 The new law passed unanimously in the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...

.Yolanda Law is a kind of environmental Micaela Law
Argentina Institute for Economic Development. 28 October 2020 It was proposed in the lower house, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, on 20 July 2020 by Propuesta Repulibicana National Deputy Camila Crescimbeni,"Yolanda Law": training in environmental education and sustainable development for the public sector
''El Dia''. 10 July 2020. and was sanctioned by 213 votes in favor and 1 against. The fact that it was supported by the leading party at the time, Frente de todos, and the opposition, Propuesta Republicana, has been credited with its success. The form of this law was similar to Micaela's Law, (Law 27.499), of 2019, which imposes a similar training obligation for public officials, but in terms of gender."Micaela's Law"
Official State Portal of the Argentina Republic. Accessed 8 March 2024 This law builds on the

Escazú Agreement The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, better known as the Escazú Agreement (), is an international treaty signed by 24 Latin American and Ca ...

of 2018, particularly article 10, which asks parties to "develop and strengthen environmental law and access rights, awareness-raising and capacity-building programmes for, inter alia, the public, judicial and administrative officials, national human rights institutions and jurists".Escazú Agreement
UN Treaty. March 2018

Implementation

On 5 October 2022, then-President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

began the training along with senior members of the national Cabinet.The President of the Nation led the Yolanda Law training for high authoritiesOfficial State Portal of the Argentina Republic
5 October 2022 As of September 2023, 50,000 officials of the three branches of government have been trained.Yolanda Law: there are already more than 50 thousand people trained
Official State Portal of the Argentina Republic. 13 September 2023 Provincial governments were not included in the law, but the provinces were invited to adopt it. Twenty-two provinces have so far passed Yolanda's Law. One,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, is in the process of adoption.Jurisdictions adhered to Yolanda LawOfficial State Portal of the Argentina Republic
Accessed 8 March 2024

Sanctions for non-adherence

It would be considered a serious offence for officials to refuse to take part in the training, and could lead to disciplinary sanction and naming of the official on the website of the enforcement authority.Official Gazette of the Argentina Republic
15 December 2020

Criticism

On the day of the vote in the

, 17 November 2020, Deputy

Nicolás del Caño Nicolás del Caño (born 6 February 1980) is an Argentine politician from the Socialist Workers' Party (Argentina), Socialist Workers' Party.http://www.diariouno.com.ar/mendoza/Nicolas-Del-Cao-compartira-la-banca-con-Soledad-Sosa-Empezamos-a-escri ...

, criticized the "hypocrisy" and suggested that, although many may celebrate this law, at the same time, they promote harmful extractivist policies. Along these same lines, Deputy

Romina Del Plá Romina Del Plá (born 2 April 1972) is an activist in the Workers' Party (Argentina).http://www.partidoobrero.com.ar/elecciones-2017/candidato/buenos-aires/129 brief biography (Spanish) She was elected to the Argentine national Chamber of Deputi ...

said that environmental protection is more a problem of interests than a problem of education.Proceedings of the House of Deputies.
17 November 2020The Yolanda Law, an advance towards environmental literacy and education in sustainable development in Argentina
Alan Vogelfanger and Maria Virginia Mas. Praxis educativa, Vol. 25, No 3 September – December 2021. E - ISSN 2313-934X. pp. 1-16

References

{{reflist Argentine legislation Environment of Argentina 2020 in Argentina 2020 in law Environmental law 2020 in the environment