Trump withdraws US from 66 international organizations, including pivotal climate treaties

Washington DC: The US is withdrawing from dozens of international bodies, conventions and treaties, including key climate treaties, that are “contrary to the interests” of the country, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.

The list comprises 66 organizations – 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations organizations – many of which conduct pivotal work on climate change. 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.

It is the latest effort by the Trump administration to distance the US from international organizations addressing climate change. Established in 1992, the UNFCCC serves as the international structure for efforts to slow down climate change, providing the foundations for key treaties including the Paris Agreement, from which Trump has twice withdrawn. It is one of the most widely subscribed international treaties, with 197 States and the European Union having ratified it.

Pulling out of the UNFCCC (the US is the first and only nation to ever do so) is “a strategic blunder that gives away American advantage for nothing in return,” David Widawsky, Director of the World Resources Institute US, said in a statement. “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 US out of the arena entirely.”

Trump said “it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to” these organizations, and instructed all executive departments and agencies “to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawal … as soon as possible.” He has used the same argument to justified previous withdrawals from international bodies including the World Health Organization, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA, the UN Human Rights Council and UNESCO.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the organizations as “anti-American, useless, or wasteful,” adding that review of other organizations is still ongoing. “We will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests,” he said in a social media post.

‘New Low’

Several international organizations have expressed shock and anger at the move. Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director and Lead Economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called it a “new low” and “another sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation.” Gina McCarthy, the White House climate adviser during the Biden administration, described the decision as “shortsighted, embarrassing, and foolish.”

While hurting the US, Widawsky remains optimistic that “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,” he said.