US President Donald Trump is withdrawing the United States from a foundational climate treaty as part of a sweeping exit from collective global action, the White House announced Wednesday.
A total of 66 global organizations and treaties — roughly half affiliated with the United Nations — were listed in a White House memorandum as “contrary to the interests of the United States.”
In a press statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the decision was taken in furtherance of Executive Order 14199, following an administration-wide review of international organisations receiving U.S. participation or funding.
According to Rubio, the Trump administration concluded that many of these institutions are redundant, mismanaged, unnecessary, or actively working against U.S. interests. Others, he said, have become platforms for ideological agendas that undermine national sovereignty and divert American resources with little tangible benefit.
“It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,” Rubio said.
The administration argues that billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer money have flowed for years to international bodies that deliver few results while advancing policies at odds with the Trump administration’s priorities. Rubio said those days are now over.
Many of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives. Other non-UN organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
Most notable among them is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the parent treaty underpinning all major international climate agreements.
The memo also directs the United States to withdraw from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body responsible for assessing climate science, alongside other organizations including the International Renewable Energy Agency, UN Oceans and UN Water.
EU Slams Trump On Withdrawal Order
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from a bedrock climate treaty was slammed Thursday by the EU, which vowed to keep tackling the crisis with other nations.
The treaty adopted in 1992 is a global pact by nations to cooperate to drive down planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
European Union climate chief Wopke Hoekstra said the UNFCCC “underpins global climate action” and brings nations together in the collective fight against the crisis.
“The decision by the world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter to retreat from it is regrettable and unfortunate,” Hoekstra said in a post on LinkedIn
“We will unequivocally continue to support international climate research, as the foundation of our understanding and work. We will also continue to work on international climate cooperation.”
Trump, who has thrown the full weight of his domestic policy behind fossil fuels, has openly scorned the scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet, deriding climate science as a “hoax.”
His administration sent no representative to the most recent UN climate summit in Brazil in November, which is held every year under the auspices of the UNFCCC.
Teresa Ribera, the EU’s vice-president for the clean transition, said the Trump administration “doesn’t care” about the environment, health or the suffering of people.
Exiting the underlying UN climate treaty could introduce additional legal uncertainty around any future US effort to rejoin.
“Pulling out of the UNFCCC is a whole order of magnitude different from pulling out of the Paris Agreement,” Jean Su, a senior attorney for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told AFP.
“It’s our contention that it’s illegal for the President to unilaterally pull out of a treaty that required two thirds of the Senate vote,” she continued. “We are looking at legal options to pursue that line of argument.”
Li Shuo of the Asia Society Policy Institute told AFP, “The US withdrawal from the UN climate framework is a heavy blow to global climate action, fracturing hard-won consensus.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of Trump who is widely seen as a 2028 Democratic presidential contender, said in a statement that “our brainless president is surrendering America’s leadership on the world stage and weakening our ability to compete in the economy of the future — creating a leadership vacuum that China is already exploiting.”
See Full List UN ORGANISATIONS
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission for Africa
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
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
NON-UN ORGANISATIONS
24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact
Colombo Plan Council
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Education Cannot Wait
European Centre of Excellence for Countering
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 Agenc
International Solar Alliance
International Tropical Timber Organization
International Union for Conservation of Natur
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 Centur
Science and Technology Center in Ukraine
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
Venice Commission of the Council of Europe
ANN, APF, OTHER AGENCIES
