The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has dealt a new blow to the framework of international climate governance. This Thursday, in the midst of the whirlwind generated by his actions in Venezuela and his promises to increase oil extraction from this territory, Trump has issued an executive order to demand the withdrawal of the country he presides over from a total of 66 international organizations and treaties which, according to a statement issued by the White House, “are no longer useful to the national interests.” Among them are several entities linked to the United Nations, among which Some of the most important organizations in the world on climate change stand out, protection of biodiversity and promotion of renewable energies.
The decision affects a total of 31 organizations linked to the United Nations and 35 other independent international entities, which also include groups dedicated to safeguarding public health and promoting gender and inclusion policies. Although at the moment the complete list of affected entities has not yet been detailed, and it is still unclear whether the US Congress will support the decision, Trump’s cabinet has confirmed Washington’s withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the group that since 1992 has articulated the international cooperation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and which also hosts the debates held annually at climate summits. In practice, the decision involves withdrawal of the second largest emitter of polluting gases of the main multilateral forum where responses to the climate crisis are negotiated.
The measure includes the definitive withdrawal of the United States from the entity that has promoted the Paris Agreement and that organizes the climate summits
The presidential order also reaffirms the departure of the United States from the Paris Agreementthe great global pact to reduce emissions, as well as the country’s withdrawal from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)the largest scientific organization in charge of periodically evaluating the state of knowledge about climate change and proposing science-based solutions to deal with this problem. The withdrawal reaches other strategic entities related to the energy transition and the management of oceans and water resources, such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) or United Nations entities for the protection of the oceans or sustainable water management.
Scientific organizations
The White House justifies these decisions within the framework of the “America First” doctrine, which Trump has strongly reactivated since his return to power a year ago. The president has reiterated on multiple occasions his rejection of scientific consensus which confirms the existence of the climate crisis and attributes global warming to human activities. In recent months, in fact, Trump’s speech has been acquiring increasingly denialist overtones, even calling climate science “a hoax”, while at the same time he has opted to dismantle all the climate policies promoted by Biden and, in their place, redouble support for fossil fuel extraction and trade like oil and gas.
The European Commissioner for Climate Action has called Trump’s decision “regrettable” and “unfortunate.”
The international reaction has not been long in coming. From Brussels, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, has regretted the withdrawal of the United States from these entities and has recalled that these organizations “support climate action on a global scale” since brings together all countries to reduce emissionsadapt to climate change and evaluate progress. “The decision of the largest economy in the world to move away from it is regrettable and unfortunate,” Hoekstra declared shortly after hearing the news, while reiterating that “the European Union will continue to support international climate cooperation.” In this sense it has also been pronounced Vice President Sara Aagesenwho has lamented that the United States is “turning its back on science.” “In the face of this, Spain will continue to act firmly against climate change,” he added.
In practical terms, the departure of the United States does not imply the disappearance of these organismsbut it does weaken its financial and political capacity. Beyond its immediate impact, the decision raises fundamental questions about the future of global climate governance at a time when the effects of climate change are intensifying around the world. In this sense, there are already those who argue that the withdrawal of the United States reinforces the fractures in the international response and leaves other actors, such as the European Union or China, facing the challenge of sustain multilateral momentum facing a crisis that, by definition, does not understand borders.
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