Shock as U.S. withdraws from 66 international agreements, 31 affiliated with United Nations

The United States will withdraw from more than five dozen international collaborations, including several United Nations treaties and organizations focused on climate change and ocean governance, President Donald Trump announced in a memo dated January 7.

Among the bodies the U.S. plans to exit are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The list also includes agreements and organizations dealing with renewable energy, maritime security, counterterrorism, piracy, ocean protection, and women’s empowerment, USA Today reports.

In total, the administration plans to withdraw from 66 treaties, conventions, and organizations, 31 of which are affiliated with the United Nations.

According to the memo, these entities were deemed “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

The decision follows a comprehensive review ordered by President Trump and conducted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, examining all international organizations, treaties, and conventions to which the United States is a member or signatory.

In a statement, the White House said the withdrawals would “end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively,” adding that U.S. resources would be better allocated elsewhere.

The UNFCCC was ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by former President George H. W. Bush in October 1992, making the United States the first industrialized nation to join the convention.

At the time, Bush described it as a “first step in crucial long-term international efforts to address climate change.”

The agreement committed participating countries to track greenhouse gas emissions and develop national climate programs.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the United States will now become the only country in the world no longer party to the UNFCCC.

While the U.S. has already submitted a notice of intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, it has never before withdrawn from the broader framework convention.

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