It's been 35 years since the US first responded to the 12-year deadline to avoid climate disaster ... and then became one of the few industrialized nations to take it seriously. As the US approached the third twelve-year cycle since the UN crafted its global-warming pact, Donald Trump has finally decided to withdraw from the agreement. The White House also announced that it would pull out of dozens of international orgs attached to the UN Framework on Climate Change:
Section 1. Purpose. (a) On February 4, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14199 (Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations). That Executive Order directed the Secretary of State, in consultation with the United States Representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States. The Secretary of State has reported his findings as required by Executive Order 14199.
(b) I have considered the Secretary of State’s report and, after deliberating with my Cabinet, have determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum.
(c) Consistent with Executive Order 14199 and pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawal of the United States from the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law.
This is less about climate change in particular than it is about multilateral agreements, especially those that favor China over American interests. And that, at least, is what many Trump supporters cast their ballots to support.
Of course, this may end up in court. Unlike other executive agreements, such as the JCPOA deal with Iran, the Senate actually ratified the UNFCCC. Do presidents have the authority to cancel ratified treaties? The Constitution does not make that clear, and the situation is rare enough that few if any precedents may exist to determine the answer. That may make it difficult to fully end the US connection to the treaty, but Trump's EO anticipates this with the caveat "to the extent permitted by law."
What would be "permitted by law"? Any firm commitment in the treaty itself would likely require compliance. However, the UNFCCC is much more of a framework than a regulatory document. The agreements that followed the UNFCCC treaty, such as the Kyoto and Paris accords, imposed specific reductions in carbon emissions and other actions. Those never got ratified by the US Senate, and therefore exist in the same kind of limbo that the JCPOA had as an executive agreement rather than a treaty. We have already rejected the succeeding protocols promulgated under the UNFCCC, so we've mainly complied with the aspirational and soft "requirements" in the treaty's text to act to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, other "greenhouse gases," and particulates ... which we already do as policy at the national and state level.
The biggest impact will be our withdrawal from dozens of multilateral organizations – 65 of them, apparently. That will undoubtedly save us some money just from managing those relationships, not to mention allowing us to redirect human resources to real priorities in trade and foreign policy.
Politico laments the move to "destabilize global climate cooperation":
President Donald Trump is withdrawing the United States from the world’s overarching treaty on climate change in a move that escalates his attempts to reverse years of global negotiations toward addressing rising temperatures.
The announcement to sever ties with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change came as Trump quit dozens of international organizations that the White House said no longer serve U.S. interests by promoting what it called radical climate policies and other issues.
Trump has pressured other countries to abandon their carbon-cutting measures, and the move appears to be his latest attempt to destabilize global climate cooperation.
The 1992 UNFCCC serves as the international structure for efforts by 198 countries to slow the rate of rising climate pollution. It has universal participation. The U.S. was the first industrialized nation to join the treaty following its ratification under former President George H.W. Bush — and it will be the only nation ever to leave it.
Marco Rubio rebutted the criticism from the Left over the end of this and other international pacts that act to put US policy at the mercy of international organizations:
Mr Trump has also pulled the US out of the World Health Organization and sharply reduced foreign aid, cutting funding for numerous UN agencies and forcing them to scale back operations on the ground, including the High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said the organisations were driven by “progressive ideology” and were actively seeking to “constrain American sovereignty”.
“From DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) mandates to ‘gender equity’ campaigns to climate orthodoxy, many international organisations now serve a globalist project,” he said.
That's exactly what Trump promised in all three of his campaigns. And I am reasonably certain that this is exactly what Trump supporters voted to get, too.
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