Efectos indirectos a nivel internacional de la implementación de los ODS: el caso de la soja de Argentina

This policy brief examines the 'spillover effects' of the Argentine soybean value chain, specifically how consumption in Europe and China externalizes environmental and socioeconomic impacts to Argentina, thereby affecting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• Soybean production is the most significant crop in Argentina, with cultivation area expanding from nearly zero in 1970 to 18 million hectares by 2018, covering more than half of the country's agricultural land.
• The vast majority of Argentine soybean production (82%) is destined for foreign final consumption, with Europe, China, and the United States as the primary consumers. Within Europe, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are the top consumers, mainly for livestock feed products.
• Europe is responsible for approximately 26% of the socioeconomic and environmental impacts associated with soybean cultivation in Argentina.
• Environmental impacts of soybean production include soil erosion, loss of fertility (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus), pesticide use, and threats to nearly 100 vertebrate species on the IUCN Red List. In northwest Argentina, soybean expansion drives deforestation at a rate of 300,000 hectares per year.
• Soybean cultivation accounts for more than half of Argentina's total agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, totaling approximately 35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, including emissions from associated land-use changes.
• Social impacts are mixed: while the sector has created formal employment with social security (33% of direct workers are registered), it has destroyed informal jobs. Vulnerable groups, including women, the elderly, and low-skilled workers, face greater hiring difficulties, and the workforce is heavily skewed toward men.
• Economically, soybean exports provide essential foreign currency and public revenue for Argentina, but this concentration increases the country's vulnerability to climate crises and global market volatility.
• The document argues that the implementation of SDGs in Europe and Argentina is linked, suggesting that if Europe produced its own protein crops (equivalent to 16 million tonnes of soy), many environmental costs would shift from Argentina to Europe.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Efectos indirectos a nivel internacional de la implementación de los ODS: el caso de la soja de Argentina. https://www.sei.org/publications/efectos-indirectos-a-nivel-internacional-de-la-implementacion-de-los-ods-el-caso-de-la-soja-de-argentina/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Efectos indirectos a nivel internacional de la implementación de los ODS: el caso de la soja de Argentina. 2019. https://www.sei.org/publications/efectos-indirectos-a-nivel-internacional-de-la-implementacion-de-los-ods-el-caso-de-la-soja-de-argentina/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Efectos indirectos a nivel internacional de la implementación de los ODS: el caso de la soja de Argentina |date=21 November 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/efectos-indirectos-a-nivel-internacional-de-la-implementacion-de-los-ods-el-caso-de-la-soja-de-argentina/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019efectos, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Efectos indirectos a nivel internacional de la implementación de los ODS: el caso de la soja de Argentina}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/efectos-indirectos-a-nivel-internacional-de-la-implementacion-de-los-ods-el-caso-de-la-soja-de-argentina/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }