US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the US’s withdrawal from 66 international organizations, including key climate treaties like the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the primary global treaty for coordinating international climate action.
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The US has hit a “new low” by withdrawing from key international climate bodies and treaties as it advances its “anti-science” agenda, experts have said.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump instructed all executive departments and agencies “to take immediate steps” to withdraw the country from 66 international organizations that are “contrary to the interests” of the country. These include the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority providing technical and policy advice to drive conservation, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCCC), the primary global treaty for coordinating international climate action.
Full list of organizations from which the US is withdrawing (click to view)
Non-United Nations Organizations
- 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact;
- Colombo Plan Council;
- Commission for Environmental Cooperation;
- Education Cannot Wait;
- European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats;
- Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories;
- Freedom Online Coalition;
- Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;
- Global Counterterrorism Forum;
- Global Forum on Cyber Expertise;
- Global Forum on Migration and Development;
- Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research;
- Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development;
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
- Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
- International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property;
- International Cotton Advisory Committee;
- International Development Law Organization;
- International Energy Forum;
- International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies;
- International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance;
- International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law;
- International Lead and Zinc Study Group;
- International Renewable Energy Agency;
- International Solar Alliance;
- International Tropical Timber Organization;
- International Union for Conservation of Nature;
- Pan American Institute of Geography and History;
- Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation;
- Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia;
- Regional Cooperation Council;
- Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century;
- Science and Technology Center in Ukraine;
- Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; and
- Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
United Nations (UN) Organizations
- Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
- UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission for Africa;
- ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;
- ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific;
- ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;
- International Law Commission;
- International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals;
- International Trade Centre;
- Office of the Special Adviser on Africa;
- Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict;
- Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;
- Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children;
- Peacebuilding Commission;
- Peacebuilding Fund;
- Permanent Forum on People of African Descent;
- UN Alliance of Civilizations;
- UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries;
- UN Conference on Trade and Development;
- UN Democracy Fund;
- UN Energy;
- UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
- UN Human Settlements Programme;
- UN Institute for Training and Research;
- UN Oceans;
- UN Population Fund;
- UN Register of Conventional Arms;
- UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;
- UN System Staff College;
- UN Water
- UN University
Experts, government’s leaders, and the scientific community have criticized the decision, saying the US will be left behind as the rest of the world embraces the energy transition, shifting from costly and polluting fossil fuels to cleaner and cheaper renewables like solar and wind.
“While all other nations are stepping forward together, this latest step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse,” said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. He added that the move will leave the US “less secure and less prosperous,” with higher energy, food, transport and insurance cost and less manufacturing jobs.
The US, which Stiell says was “instrumental” in creating the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, is the first country to leave both.
Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director and Lead Economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, described the move as a “new low” for the US and “another sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation.” For many, like former US climate envoy John Kerry, the US exit is a “gift to China,” which already dominates the clean energy sector.
Wopke Hoekstra, the European Union’s Climate Commissioner, said Europe will “unequivocally continue to support international climate research [and] work on international climate cooperation,” calling the US’s exit “regrettable and unfortunate.”
The Trump administration is likely to face legal action as experts say it may be illegal to exit the treaty without Congress’s approval. The US was the first industrialized country to join the UNFCCC, after ratification by the Senate.
Featured image: UNclimatechange/Flickr.
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