Trump is withdrawing the US from 66 international organizations and agreements, including major climate groups

On Wednesday President Trump withdrew the United States from 66 international organizations and agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In a presidential memorandum, Trump said it is “against the interests of the United States to remain a member, participate, or provide assistance” to the organizations, which include groups aimed at education, economic development, cybersecurity and human rights issues, among others. He ordered all departments and agencies to take steps to “make the withdrawal” of the US from the organizations as soon as possible.

When the president announced the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement – an international agreement to reduce global warming below 2 degrees Celsius to prevent the worst effects of climate change – the latest move will further divide the nation at a critical time, experts say.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is a global agreement established in 1992 and signed by nearly 200 countries with the aim of addressing climate change through coordinated international measures, including limiting greenhouse gases that warm the planet. Trump already raised eyebrows last year by refusing to attend or send any high-level delegates to the annual UN Conferences of the Parties in Brazil, where Gov. Gavin Newsom instead played a prominent role.

Withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention is “a blind, shameful, and foolish decision,” said Gina McCarthy, former director of the US Environmental Protection Agency and former White House national adviser, in a statement.

“As the only country in the world that is not a party to the UNFCCC agreement, the Trump administration is abandoning decades of American climate change leadership and global cooperation,” said McCarthy, who chairs the America is All In climate coalition.

David Widawsky, director of the World Resources Institute, called the move “a strategic mistake that gives the American people a hollow advantage.”

“The 30-year-old agreement is a cornerstone of global climate cooperation. Walking away doesn’t just sideline America — it takes the US out of the arena entirely,” Widawsky said.

On Wednesday, Trump also withdrew the US from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading scientific body studying global warming. Its major assessments published every six or seven years help inform climate policy around the world.

Pulling the US out of the IPCC won’t stop individual American scientists from contributing, but the nation as a whole will no longer be able to help guide scientific assessments, said Delta Merner, director of the Climate and Energy Program’s accountability campaign at the Union of Concerned Scientists, who has attended past IPCC meetings.

“Traveling doesn’t make science disappear, it just leaves people across the United States, policymakers and businesses flying in the dark at a time when reliable climate information is urgently needed,” Merner said. “This is a clear attempt to weaken the scientific principles that protect the public from misinformation, delay and reckless decision-making. Such a move will make it easier for fossil fuel interests to distort the facts while leading communities pay the price.”

Trump, who received large donations from oil and gas companies during his 2024 presidential campaign, has strongly promoted the development of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. He also took several steps to reduce scientific research and climate action in the US, including moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, one of the leading research centers for weather and climate in Boulder, Colo.

Last year, the Trump administration did too he fired hundreds of scientists working to prepare the National Climate Assessment authorized by the conference and removed the website which was in charge of the previous test.

Other climate, environmental and energy groups that Trump withdrew from on Wednesday include the International Renewable Energy Agency, the International Solar Alliance, the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, among many others.

But the United States is the first country to leave the UN Framework Convention, according to Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.

“President Trump is withdrawing the United States from the UNFCCC at national risk,” said Bapna. “It is not only reckless to allow other countries to write the global rules of the road for the inevitable transition to clean energy, but also to skip billions of dollars in investment, jobs, lower energy costs and new markets for American clean technologies.”