The agency warned about environmental impacts in Península Valdés and requested to halt the work. The 437-kilometer project aims to transport up to 550,000 barrels daily to boost oil exports
In a clear attempt at ideological guardianship over national sovereignty, UNESCO demands to halt the strategic oil pipeline Vaca Muerta Sur, a fundamental project for Argentina to regain its place as an energy power. The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, meeting at its 48th session in Busan, South Korea, has formally requested the Argentine government to “suspend the work related to the project” of the pipeline and its terminal in Punta Colorada.
Under the pretext of protecting the ecosystem, this organization aims to interfere in a project that involves a massive investment to transport oil from the Neuquén basin to the coast of Río Negro, in order to export it to the world and generate the foreign currency that the country desperately needs.
Leftist environmentalists in San Matias Gulf
The focus of the discord is the Vaca Muerta Oil Sur (VMOS) project, an infrastructure of 437 kilometers in length that seeks to transform the national export matrix.
The initial plan anticipates a transport capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, with a growth projection that could reach 700,000 barrels.
Despite being a strategic project driven by YPF and the main oil companies, UNESCO has set February 1, 2027 as the deadline for the government to submit additional documentation, attempting to delay a process whose crude oil export is scheduled to begin in 2026.
The "green" offensive is based on alleged risks to the Valdés Peninsula, a protected area located 30 kilometers from the Punta Colorada terminal.
UNESCO
The international organization, supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), claims that there are “high risks” to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the area, citing concerns about possible “collisions with cetaceans”, “underwater noise pollution”, and the preservation of the southern right whale.
It is striking that UNESCO considers the information presented by Argentina on December 15, 2025 to be insufficient, which already included environmental impact assessments, mitigation measures, and detailed contingency plans.
It is imperative to remember that the regulatory framework for this project was modified in September 2022, during the administration of Alberto Fernández, when the Law 3308 was amended to enable the development of the port.
Dead Cow
However, it is now, under the liberal leadership of Javier Milei, that progressive sectors and global environmental networks are intensifying their attacks, questioning the “division of responsibilities among the different provincial jurisdictions” of Río Negro and Chubut and labeling the legal reforms as “regressive”.
While President Javier Milei is the only leader with the audacity to liberate productive forces and take advantage ofVaca Muerta's potential, international bureaucracy and progressive environmentalism aim to suffocate the country's development through administrative hurdles that only favor economic stagnation.
Ultimately, UNESCO seeks to impose an agenda that prioritizes immobility under the label of conservation, ignoring that the true protection of the Argentine heritage is economic freedom and industrial development. The controversy today is not environmental, but political: either Javier Milei is allowed to turn Argentina into a global energy hub, or we yield to the pressures of a foreign bureaucracy that seeks to decide the future of our natural resources.
