President Trump pulls the US out of the UNFCCC, the core climate treaty, as part of a wider exit from 66 international bodies and agreements.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is withdrawing the United States from the foundational United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The White House announced the move as part of a sweeping exit from 66 global organisations and treaties deemed “contrary to the interests of the United States.”
The UNFCCC is the parent treaty that underpins all major international climate agreements, including the Paris accord.
Trump has already withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement since returning to office, a move he also made during his first term.
Exiting the underlying treaty could introduce legal uncertainty around any future US effort to rejoin the Paris framework.
A senior attorney for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, Jean Su, told AFP the withdrawal is a “whole order of magnitude different from pulling out of the Paris Agreement.”
“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 said.
The White House memorandum also directs the US to withdraw from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Other climate-related bodies on the list include the International Renewable Energy Agency, UN Oceans and UN Water.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic, said “our brainless president is surrendering America’s leadership on the world stage.”
The memo further targets prominent UN bodies like the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated these organisations are driven by “progressive ideology” seeking to “constrain American sovereignty.”
Trump has also withdrawn the US from UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and sharply reduced funding for UN refugee and food programmes.
He delivered a scathing broadside against the United Nations in a speech before the General Assembly last September.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked during a wide-ranging complaint that included broken facilities at the UN’s New York headquarters.
