Trump moves to pull US out of bedrock global climate treaty, becoming first country to do so

By Andrew Freedman, Ella Nilsen, Samantha Waldenberg, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is pulling the United States out of the bedrock treaty that underpins international cooperation on climate change, along with dozens of other global bodies, according to a memorandum released by the White House Wednesday evening and an accompanying social media post.

Such an action, if successful, would leave the US out of international climate change talks and could raise tensions with US allies for whom climate action is a priority.

The agreement in question is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, which the US joined and Congress ratified in 1992, when George H.W. Bush was in the White House. The agreement does not require the US to cut fossil fuels or pollution, but rather sets a goal of stabilizing the amount of climate pollution in the atmosphere at a level that would “prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-caused) interference with the climate system.”

It also set up a process for negotiations between countries that have come to be known as the annual UN climate summits. It was under the UNFCCC’s auspices that the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1995, and the Paris Agreement in 2015 — two monumental moments of global cooperation and progress toward limiting harmful climate pollution.

In addition, the agreement requires the submission of an annual national climate pollution inventory, which the Trump administration notably skipped this year.

The exit from the climate treaty, and a slew of other international agencies, is another step back from the US on international cooperation.

“We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests,” Sec. of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”

Former Sec. of State and US climate envoy John Kerry blasted the move as an expected one, yet damaging to American interests globally, calling it “a gift to China and a get out of jail free card to countries and polluters who want to avoid responsibility.”

President Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement for a second time on his first day in office. With Wednesday’s move, the US will now become the first country to withdraw from the climate treaty, since virtually every country is a member, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

Because the Senate ratified the UNFCCC in 1992, it is a legal gray area as to whether President Donald Trump can unilaterally pull the country out of it. However, if Congress plays a role, the Republican majority would presumably back the move.

If successful, the withdrawal would prevent the US from officially participating in subsequent annual climate summits and could call into question the country’s commitment to other longstanding agreements to which it is a party. It may also prompt other nations to reevaluate their commitments to the UNFCCC and UN climate talks, risking not just US climate progress but that of others.

A US withdrawal could make it difficult for a future president to rejoin the Paris Agreement, since that agreement was struck under the auspices of the UNFCCC.

The decision came following a review of major international agreements that the State Department had undertaken based on an executive order. In total, the White House directed the withdrawal of the US from 66 international organizations “that no longer serve American interests.”

The list covers a wide swath of organizations and groups, including 31 UN entities, such as UN Water, UN Oceans, UN Population Fund, and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Trump also moved to withdraw the US from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC — a Nobel Prize-winning group that publishes reports on global warming. While the president likely can’t bar US scientists from participating in IPCC reports, the move could have ramifications for federal scientists who would otherwise contribute.

The list also included a number of non-UN related groups, including but not limited to the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.

The Trump administration has long denounced international organizations and has already withdrawn from some, like the World Health Organization.

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