President Donald Trump administration announced plans to pull the United States out of the foundational climate change treaty that underpins global cooperation, along with dozens of other international bodies, according to a White House memorandum released Wednesday evening and an accompanying social media post.
If carried out, the move would exclude the US from international climate talks and could heighten tensions with allies for whom climate action remains a top priority.
The treaty in question is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which the US joined and ratified through Congress in 1992 during George H.W. Bush’s presidency.
While the agreement does not mandate reductions in fossil fuel use or pollution, it aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels that would “prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-caused) interference with the climate system.”
The UNFCCC also established the framework for annual negotiations among member countries, which led to landmark agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol in 1995 and the Paris Agreement in 2015—key milestones in global efforts to curb climate pollution.
Additionally, the treaty requires member nations to submit an annual national climate pollution inventory, a requirement the Trump administration notably skipped this year.
The withdrawal from the climate treaty, alongside other international bodies, marks another step back for the US from multilateral cooperation.
“We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”
Former Secretary of State and US climate envoy John Kerry criticized the decision, describing it as an expected move but one that harms American interests worldwide. He called it “a gift to China and a get out of jail free card to countries and polluters who want to avoid responsibility.”
President Trump had previously withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement on his first day in office. With this latest action, the US would become the first country to formally exit the UNFCCC, a treaty to which nearly every nation is a signatory, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Because the Senate ratified the UNFCCC in 1992, there is debate over whether Trump can legally withdraw the US unilaterally. However, if Congress becomes involved, the Republican majority would likely support the move.
A successful withdrawal would bar the US from participating in future annual climate summits and could raise questions about America’s commitment to other longstanding international agreements.
It may also prompt other nations to reconsider their participation in the UNFCCC, potentially undermining global climate progress.
Rejoining the Paris Agreement in the future could also be complicated, since it was negotiated under the UNFCCC framework.
The decision follows a State Department review of major international agreements prompted by an executive order. Overall, the White House directed the US to withdraw from 66 international organizations deemed to “no longer serve American interests.”
The list spans 31 UN entities, including UN Water, UN Oceans, the UN Population Fund, and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Trump also moved to pull the US from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Nobel Prize-winning organization that publishes global warming research.
While the administration cannot prevent US scientists from contributing to IPCC reports, federal scientists’ participation may be affected.
The list also features non-UN bodies such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.
The Trump administration has consistently criticized international organizations and has previously withdrawn from some, including the World Health Organization.
