President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations and treaties, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
This would mean the US, world’s largest historical polluter, will now withdraw completely from the global climate change mitigation agreement and scientific assessment of climate change. It also means US will not do its fair share in climate change mitigation or in providing climate finance to developing countries for energy transition, mitigation and adaptation.
“President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the bedrock global treaty to tackle climate change is a new low and yet another a sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation. But forward-looking U.S. states and the rest of the world recognize that devastating and costly climate impacts are mounting rapidly, and collective global action remains the only viable path to secure a livable future for our children and grandchildren. Withdrawal from the global climate convention will only serve to further isolate the United States and diminish its standing in the world following a spate of deplorable actions that have already sent our nation’s credibility plummeting, jeopardized ties with some of our closest historical allies, and made the world far more unsafe,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“The Trump administration’s shameless lies about the scientific realities of climate change, as well as its attacks on climate and clean energy policies and federal agencies, are deeply harmful to the interests of people in the United States. This administration remains cruelly indifferent to the unassailable facts on climate while pandering to fossil fuel polluters,” Cleetus added.
“Pulling out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is a strategic blunder that gives away American advantage for nothing in return. The 30-year-old agreement is the foundation of international climate cooperation. Walking away doesn’t just put America on the sidelines — it takes the U.S. out of the arena entirely. American communities and businesses will lose economic ground as other countries capture the jobs, wealth, and trade created by the booming clean-energy economy,” said David Widawsky, Director, World Resources Institute, US.
“Despite today’s action, global climate diplomacy will not falter. Other nations understand the UNFCCC’s irreplaceable role in driving cooperation and advancing climate solutions the world urgently needs. When countries work together on climate, it saves lives, creates jobs, strengthens economic stability, and builds a more prosperous future,” it added.
As of 2022 — the latest data available — China ranked as the world’s largest CO2 emitter, followed by the United States, India, Russia and Japan. However, among the top 10 CO2 emitters, the United States has the highest emission per person. Per capita emissions in the U.S. are double those of China and 8 times those of India, according to WRI.
While the country has already submitted its letter of intent to leave the landmark Paris climate agreement for a second time, U.S. withdrawal from the UNFCCC has never happened before. Every nation in the world is party to the UNFCCC, which was adopted more than three decades ago and has been upheld by Democratic and Republican administrations in the United States alike. This harmful move comes in the context of multiple actions the administration has taken, including an illegal invasion of Venezuela, to upend global agreements and flout international law, the UCS said.