The United States will no longer participate in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and will withdraw from another 65 other international organisations – labelling them “a waste of taxpayer dollars” and saying those entities “no longer serve American interests” and promote “ineffective or hostile agendas”.
Amongst the 66 bodies listed in the ‘America First’ move – 35 non-UN organisations and 31 UN entities in total – were the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, the United Nations Population Fund and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
A memorandum issued by President Trump Wednesday the US was withdrawing from “international organizations, conventions, and treaties that are contrary to the interests of the United States” – and a statement added that many of the organisations promoted “radical climate policies, global governance and ideological programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength”.
“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,” Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said in a post on X. “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,” he said.
Rubio said the Trump administration’s investigation concluded the 66 entities were “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”
“It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,” Rubio said. “The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.”
The US will withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty underpinning international efforts to tackle climate issues, while its withdrawal from the IPCC has already been flagged, commentators felt, by the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, and a failure to send a delegation to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil last year.
However, former Vice-President Al Gore said that “For decades, the world’s scientists and governments have worked together to tackle the most significant challenge of our lifetimes: the climate crisis. The ongoing work of the IPCC, UNFCCC, and other global institutions remains essential to safeguarding humanity’s future.”
“The Trump Administration’s decision to remove the United States from these vital organizations sends the wrong message to our allies abroad and fails to protect Americans from increasingly dangerous impacts of the climate crisis at home,” he added.
Since the Trump administration took power, the US has also already withdrawn from the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council, and UNESCO.
The memorandum set out the full list of organisations from which the US will withdraw as follows:
(a) Non-United Nations Organizations:
(i) 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact;
(ii) Colombo Plan Council;
(iii) Commission for Environmental Cooperation;
(iv) Education Cannot Wait;
(v) European Centre of Excellence for Countering
Hybrid Threats;
(vi) Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories;
(vii) Freedom Online Coalition;
(viii) Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;
(ix) Global Counterterrorism Forum;
(x) Global Forum on Cyber Expertise;
(xi) Global Forum on Migration and Development;
(xii) Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research;
(xiii) Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development;
(xiv) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
(xv) Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
(xvi) International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property;
(xvii) International Cotton Advisory Committee;
(xviii) International Development Law Organization;
(xix) International Energy Forum;
(xx) International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies;
(xxi) International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance;
(xxii) International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law;
(xxiii) International Lead and Zinc Study Group;
(xxiv) International Renewable Energy Agency;
(xxv) International Solar Alliance;
(xxvi) International Tropical Timber Organization;
(xxvii) International Union for Conservation of Nature;
(xxviii) Pan American Institute of Geography and History;
(xxix) Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation;
(xxx) Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia;
(xxxi) Regional Cooperation Council;
(xxxii) Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century;
(xxxiii) Science and Technology Center in Ukraine;
(xxxiv) Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; and
(xxxv) Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
(b) United Nations (UN) Organizations:
(i) Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
(ii) UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission for Africa;
(iii) ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;
(iv) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific;
(v) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;
(vi) International Law Commission;
(vii) International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals;
(viii) International Trade Centre;
(ix) Office of the Special Adviser on Africa;
(x) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict;
(xi) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;
(xii) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children;
(xiii) Peacebuilding Commission;
(xiv) Peacebuilding Fund;
(xv) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent;
(xvi) UN Alliance of Civilizations;
(xvii) UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries;
(xviii) UN Conference on Trade and Development;
(xix) UN Democracy Fund;
(xx) UN Energy;
(xxi) UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
(xxii) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
(xxiii) UN Human Settlements Programme;
(xxiv) UN Institute for Training and Research;
(xxv) UN Oceans;
(xxvi) UN Population Fund;
(xxvii) UN Register of Conventional Arms;
(xxviii) UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;
(xxix) UN System Staff College;
(xxx) UN Water; and
(xxxi) UN University.