Trump withdraws U.S. from UNFCCC, a key climate treaty

ENVIRONMENT – CLIMATE CHANGE

9 JANUARY 2025

• U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from a bedrock climate treaty was slammed by the EU, which vowed to keep tackling the crisis with other nations.
• The White House, through an executive order,  flagged the U.S. exit from 66 global organisations and treaties — roughly half affiliated with the United Nations — it identified as “contrary to the interests of the United States”.
• “These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively such that U.S. taxpayer dollars are best allocated in other ways to support the relevant missions,” read a White House fact sheet.
• Most notable among them is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the parent treaty underpinning all major international climate agreements.
• The treaty adopted in 1992 is a global pact by nations to cooperate to drive down planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
• USA is the world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter.
• U.S. decision to withdraw from 66 “wasteful, ineffective or harmful international organisations”, included International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• The 125-member alliance was conceptualised on the sidelines of COP21 in Paris in 2015 and was formally instituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of France Francois Hollande.
• It aspires to unlock $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030 whilst reducing technology and financing costs relating to solar implementation.
• The sources stated that the alliance’s programmes are operational in more than 95 countries and had supported creation of national pipelines, regulatory frameworks, and market creation.

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