US President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum to withdraw from 66 international organizations, conventions, and treaties. According to him, participation in them contradicts American interests. Among the terminated agreements are those related to the environment, in particular the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
According to Euronews, this is a continuation of the consistent prioritization of business interests and fossil fuels. It is noteworthy that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has even removed the mention that fossil fuels are a key factor in global warming.
Farewell to the climate agreement
The UNFCCC was adopted back in 1992 and is essentially the predecessor to the Paris Climate Agreement. The US withdrew from the latter at the beginning of last year. Now it has decided to sever ties with the main document.
The Framework Convention aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will not affect the global climate. At the same time, the UNFCCC entrusts developed countries with the implementation of climate measures.
This means that the US was previously among the countries that agreed to finance activities to combat climate change in developing countries. Now, the United States has officially withdrawn from these commitments.
Withdrawal from a number of environmental initiatives
The United States decided to "cut ties" with many environmental organizations. In addition to the UNFCCC, these include:
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading expert community in the field of climatology. IPCC reports form the basis of governmental decisions and are a key factor in international negotiations. The U.S. withdrawal from the panel opens the door to disinformation and halts climate progress.
- UN – Oceans and UN – Water Resources;
- 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact (CFE);
- Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES);
- International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
The world will become more dangerous
Expert communities and climatologists around the world are mostly unanimous – they call this decision by the US one that will make the planet "much more dangerous."
Dr. Rachel Cletus, a representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), calls the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement a "new low" for Trump. In her opinion, this demonstrates the authoritarianism and anti-science stance that the US administration is taking despite the risks to the well-being of its own people.
"Withdrawing from the global climate convention will only increase the isolation of the United States and weaken its status in the world after a series of shameful actions that have already led to a decline in trust in our country, jeopardized ties with some of our closest historical allies, and made the world much more dangerous," Rachel Clitus emphasizes.
The wrong path with the possibility of return
While the whole world is investing in clean energy, the US has decided to reject progress and climate values. The RCEC warned that this poses not only global environmental risks and a blow to reputation, but also an economic blow with job losses in the US.
"This will mean less affordable energy, food, transportation, and insurance for American households and businesses, as renewable energy sources become cheaper than fossil fuels, as climate disasters increasingly affect American crops, businesses, and infrastructure every year, and volatility in oil, coal, and gas prices causes more conflict, regional instability, and forced migration," UN FCCC Executive Secretary Simon Still said in a statement to Euronews Green.
However, if the US decides to reconsider, the door is open for it to return to the Convention.
The United States under Trump has consistently moved away from environmental principles, being driven by economic and corporate interests.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that the US administration suspended the construction of major offshore wind farms. Somewhat earlier, Trump decided to 'open' the resort coastlines of California and Florida to drilling for oil wells. The US also blocked the project to build the country’s largest solar power plant.
At the same time, China continues to lead the world in clean energy production. In 2025, China accounted for over 70% of global wind energy growth.
