Trump Pulls US Out of Key UN Climate Treaty, Global Bodies

A total of 66 global organizations and agreements, about half of which are affiliated with the United Nations, were listed in a White House memorandum as “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

The most notable of these is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main agreement that underpins all major international climate agreements.

Trump, who has thrown the full weight of his domestic policy behind fossil fuels, has openly disparaged the scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet and called climate science a “hoax.”

The UNFCCC was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 and ratified by the US Senate that same year during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.

The U.S. Constitution allows presidents to enter into treaties “provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur,” but is silent on the process for withdrawing from them; This is a legal uncertainty that could invite court challenges.

After returning to office, Trump already withdrew from the landmark Paris climate accord, just as he did during his first term from 2017 to 2021, in a move later reversed by his successor, Democratic president Joe Biden.

Leaving the core agreement could create additional legal uncertainty over any future U.S. rejoining efforts.

But Jean Su, a senior lawyer at the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, told AFP: “Withdrawing from the UNFCCC is very different from withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.”

“Our contention is that it is illegal for the President to unilaterally withdraw from an agreement that requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate,” he continued. “We are looking at legal options to pursue this claim.”

“The US withdrawal from the UN climate framework is a heavy blow to global climate action and breaks the hard-won consensus,” Li Shuo of the Asia Society Policy Institute told AFP.

– ‘Progressive ideology’ –

California Governor Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of Trump, who is widely seen as a presidential candidate, said in a statement: “Our brainless president is surrendering America’s leadership on the world stage and undermining our ability to compete in the economy of the future, creating a leadership vacuum that China is already exploiting.” he said.

The declaration also instructs the United States to withdraw from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body responsible for evaluating climate science, as well as other climate-related organizations such as the International Renewable Energy Agency, UN Oceans and UN Water.

As in his first term, Trump also withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement and UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which Washington rejoined during the Biden administration.

Trump likewise withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization and sharply reduced foreign aid, cutting funding for numerous UN agencies and forcing them to scale back operations on the ground, including the High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme.

Other key organizations mentioned in the note include the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the organizations were driven by “progressive ideology” and actively sought to “constrain American sovereignty.”

“From DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) mandates to ‘gender equality’ campaigns to climate orthodoxy, many international organizations now serve a globalist project,” he said.

Speaking before the General Assembly in September, Trump made a scathing statement against the world body, which was founded in 1945 to promote global peace and cooperation in the wake of World War II.

“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked the question in a wide-ranging speech that included a broken escalator and teleprompter at the UN’s New York headquarters.