Experts decry move to leave UNFCCC as ‘embarrassing’ as president orders withdrawal from 66 international groups

Donald Trump has sparked outrage by announcing the US will exit the foundational international agreement to address the climate crisis, cementing the US’s utter isolation from the global effort to confront dangerously escalating temperatures.

In a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday, Trump stated that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is, along with 65 other organizations, agencies and commissions, “contrary to the interests of the United States” and will be ditched.

The UNFCCC treaty forms the bedrock of international co-operation to deal with the climate crisis and has been agreed to by every country in the world since its inception 34 years ago. The US Senate ratified the treaty in October 1992.

Trump has, however, routinely ridiculed climate science as a “scam” and a “hoax” and has actively hobbled clean energy projects and other climate policies as president, attempting to force the US and other countries to stay wedded to the fossil fuels that are driving disastrous heatwaves, storms, droughts and conflicts that imperils billions of people around the world.

Experts decry move to leave UNFCCC as ‘embarrassing’ as president orders withdrawal from 66 international groups

Donald Trump has sparked outrage by announcing the US will exit the foundational international agreement to address the climate crisis, cementing the US’s utter isolation from the global effort to confront dangerously escalating temperatures.

In a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday, Trump stated that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is, along with 65 other organizations, agencies and commissions, “contrary to the interests of the United States” and will be ditched.

The UNFCCC treaty forms the bedrock of international co-operation to deal with the climate crisis and has been agreed to by every country in the world since its inception 34 years ago. The US Senate ratified the treaty in October 1992.

Trump has, however, routinely ridiculed climate science as a “scam” and a “hoax” and has actively hobbled clean energy projects and other climate policies as president, attempting to force the US and other countries to stay wedded to the fossil fuels that are driving disastrous heatwaves, storms, droughts and conflicts that imperils billions of people around the world.

The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the US further retreats from global cooperation.

Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 organizations, agencies and commissions following his instructions for his administration to review participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the UN, according to a White House statement on social media.

Most of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.