Trump Pulls US Out Of Major UN Climate Bodies In Sweeping Exit From 66 'Anti-American' International Organisations

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw from dozens of international bodies, including the world's central climate treaty and the UN's leading climate science authority, marking one of the most far-reaching retrenchments from the multilateral system in modern American history.

The decision, announced by the White House on Wednesday, is outlined in a memorandum identifying 66 international organisations deemed to be“contrary to the interests of the United States”, as the administration accelerates its broader disengagement from the United Nations and allied institutions.

Climate agreements at the centre of the withdrawal

Among the most consequential exits is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the foundational treaty underpinning all major global climate agreements. The move goes beyond Trump's already announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, severing US ties with the legal architecture that governs international climate cooperation.

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Trump, who has placed fossil fuels at the heart of his domestic economic agenda, has repeatedly dismissed the scientific consensus on climate change, branding it a“hoax” during a high-level UN summit last September.

The UNFCCC was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and ratified by the US Senate during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. While the US Constitution clearly sets out the process for entering treaties, it is silent on withdrawal, a legal ambiguity that could expose the decision to judicial scrutiny and complicate any future attempt by a subsequent administration to rejoin.

Exit from global climate science bodies

The memorandum also directs the United States to withdraw from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which assesses and synthesises climate science for governments worldwide. Additional climate-related organisations named include the International Renewable Energy Agency, UN Oceans and UN Water.

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Environmental groups condemned the decision. Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists said:“President Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the bedrock global treaty to tackle climate change is a new low and yet another sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people's well-being and destabilize global cooperation.”

Rubio defends move as fulfilment of campaign pledge

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the sweeping withdrawals in a post on X, framing them as a fulfilment of Trump's campaign promises.

“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations. Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.

These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans - we will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests. The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.”

Wider retreat from the UN system

The climate-related exits form part of a broader pullback from multilateral institutions. As in his first term, Trump has again withdrawn the US from UNESCO, which Washington DC had rejoined under former president Joe Biden.

The administration has also pulled the United States out of the World Health Organization and sharply reduced foreign aid, forcing UN agencies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme to scale back operations.

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Other organisations listed in the memorandum include the UN Population Fund and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Longstanding hostility to multilateralism

Donald Trump has long been openly hostile to the United Nations. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly last September, he accused the organisation of failing to live up to its promise, saying it was“not even coming close to living up” to its potential.

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