Global climate efforts hit as US pulls out from key bodies

The US withdrew from 66 international organisations and conventions on Wednesday, with its most significant exit, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), likely to deal a crippling blow to global efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

In a statement, the White House said these organisations and conventions do not “serve American interests” and “advance globalist agendas over US priorities”. Describing the money that goes into them as “a waste of taxpayer dollars”, the statement said that some of these also espouse “radical climate policies, global governance and ideological programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength”.

Of the 66, around half are UN organisations. The areas where they work range from climate and the environment to labour and migration to trade and sexual violence. The Gurugram-headquartered International Solar Alliance is one of the organisations the US is exiting.

The US already exited the Paris Agreement (on climate) in 2025; the exit will take effect from January 27 this year. With Wednesday’s move to exit the UNFCCC and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which seeks to provide the scientific basis for policy action against the climate crisis, the US is now out of the framework the world has used for decades to understand and combat the climate crisis.

UNFCCC was established in 1992 to provide a legal basis for climate talks. All COP meetings happen under its aegis. The Paris Agreement of 2015 was the result of these discussions. Almost 200 countries have ratified the UNFCCC with the US being the first developed country to do so (after its senate approved it). The US is the world’s largest historical emitter of gases responsible for global warming.

UNFCCC is based in Bonn and funded by member countries, with the US providing the largest share — around a fifth.

With Wednesday’s move, the US becomes the first country to withdraw completely from the global climate change mitigation framework and global scientific assessment of climate change. It also means the US will not do its fair share in climate change mitigation or meet its obligation of providing climate finance to developing countries for energy transition, mitigation and adaptation.

Some experts said the US’s exit means it is now up to developing countries to do their bit.

“It is very important that the G77, particularly representing the global majority, continues to champion the cause and the principles of the UN Convention, which originally enshrined a very vital cause of equity,” said Avantika Goswami, programme manager, Climate Change, Centre for Science and Environment.

The G77 (which has 134 members now) represents developing countries.

Goswami added that thus far, many developed nations, apart from the developing countries, including large emitters like China and, of course, historical emitters like the European Union have stayed committed to the “multilateral process.”

Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist and IPCC author, stressed that climate action cannot be delayed by political developments, stressing the need for uninterrupted planning and resilience. “Global warming does not pause for politics... Adaptation planning, early warning systems, and resilient infrastructure should not be held hostage to geopolitical shifts. Countries like India should provide stability, take greater responsibility, and assume a leadership role in advancing climate action,” he said.

“The White House memorandum signals a broader risk as well. Dependence on any single country for the health of global institutions is fragile and unsustainable. The immediate priority should be to prevent a domino effect. Leaders should publicly reaffirm climate action, protect funding for technical work, and keep COP and IPCC timelines on track. The IPCC is a government body with 195 member countries, including the United States, so its work does not depend on one country - though leadership, continuity, and predictable support still matter to the climate community,” Koll added.

The exit could actually hurt the US, said another expert.

“Pulling out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is a strategic blunder that gives away American advantage for nothing in return. The 30-year-old agreement is the foundation of international climate cooperation. Walking away doesn’t just put America on the sidelines — it takes the US out of the arena entirely. American communities and businesses will lose economic ground as other countries capture the jobs, wealth, and trade created by the booming clean-energy economy,” said David Widawsky, Director, World Resources Institute, US.

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UNFCCC, voiced similar views. “This latest step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse. It is a colossal own goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous,” Stiell said in a statement.

As of 2022 — the latest data available — China was ranked as the world’s largest CO2 emitter, followed by the US, India, Russia and Japan. However, among the top 10 CO2 emitters, the US has the highest emission per person. Per capita emissions in the US are double those of China and eight times those of India, according to WRI.

Among the other organisations the US is exiting are the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, International Renewable Energy Agency, and International Solar Alliance .

The Indian government has noted reports on the US withdrawal from 66 international organisations including the International Solar Alliance (ISA), people familiar with the matter in the government said.

ISA represents 125 member/signatory countries and remains focussed on its objective of supporting member countries in collectively addressing key common challenges to scaling up of solar energy, in line with their needs, to achieve universal energy access, they added.