Trump Dumps IPCC and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

A strike at the heart of the international climate apparatus

The Trump administration today published the details of 66 international organisations that the USA is to withdraw from. Among these 66 are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These are the twin mainstays of the global climate agenda, which the USA has been a major contributor to. This is without doubt a radical departure from politics-as-usual, following the collapse of federal grant-making schemes under USAID, prompted by DOGE investigations. This will impact many policy domains, but it is climate that is perhaps highest up the political agenda.

There is little doubting the impact this will have within the USA and globally. Of the 720 government-appointed authors to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, 74 were American, according to Green Blob lobbying group CarbonBrief. The UNFCCC is the parent organisation of the infamous COP meetings, the most notable of which was Paris in 2015, which set the terms of the current policy framework. In his first term, Trump pulled the USA out of the Paris Agreement, only for that decision to be reversed by Joe Biden as soon as he assumed office in 2021. On re-election, Trump again pulled the USA out of the agreement. And now he has gone much, much further, dissolving the relationship with the process altogether.

Announcing the decision, Secretary Marco Rubio said on X:

The US is leaving 66 anti-American, useless or wasteful international organisations. Review of additional international organisations remains ongoing. These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans – we will stop subsidising globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests. The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.