The United States has withdrawn from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It has become the first and only country to exit the foundational global climate agreement.
The decision marks a complete disengagement of the US from international climate action and is seen as a setback to global efforts to combat climate change.
The United States on Thursday withdrew from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the overarching 1992 international agreement that sets out the basic rules and principles for addressing climate change.
The United States is the first and only country to exit the agreement, which includes every other nation in the world as a member.
The UNFCCC was among as many as 66 international agreements and organisations that the United States pulled out of on Thursday, saying they “no longer serve American interests”.
These included several climate-related bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Solar Alliance (ISA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and UN Oceans.
“This follows a review ordered earlier this year of all international intergovernmental organisations, conventions, and treaties that the United States is a member of or party to, or that the United States funds or supports,” a statement from the US White House said.
“These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over US priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively such that US taxpayer dollars are best allocated in other ways to support the relevant missions,” it added.
The United States had withdrawn from the 2015 Paris Agreement immediately after Donald Trump assumed office for a second term last year. He had also pulled out of the Paris Agreement during his first term, though his successor Joe Biden had reinstated US participation.
Thursday’s decisions mark a complete disengagement of the United States from international climate action and represent a setback to the global fight against climate change. The UNFCCC is the foundational international agreement on climate change, recognising the problem and outlining the core principles for addressing it. The 2015 Paris Agreement and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol are instruments under the UNFCCC that guide global climate action.
