U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the country would walk out of dozens of international and U.N. organisations, including a major climate treaty and a U.N. agency that supports women’s empowerment and gender equality, arguing they “operate contrary to U.S. national interests.”
The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which many refer to as the “bedrock” climate treaty and the parent accord to the 2015 Paris climate deal, is one of the 35 non-U.N. organisations and 31 U.N. organisations that Trump cited in a message to top administration officials.
For the first time in thirty years, the United States did not attend the annual U.N. international climate summit last year.
“The United States would be the first country to walk away from the UNFCCC,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defence Council.
“Every other nation is a member, in part because they recognise that even beyond the moral imperative of addressing climate change, having a seat at the table in those negotiations represents an ability to shape massive economic policy and opportunity,” said Bapna.
Additionally, the United States will leave the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an international organisation that focuses on family planning and maternal and child health in more than 150 countries, as well as UN Women, which promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment. Last year, the United States reduced its support for UNFPA.
“For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” reads the memo.
The majority of U.N. organisations’ voluntary financing has already been significantly reduced by Trump.