In an executive order signed Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from 66 international organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Is this decision purely symbolic or will it have concrete consequences?
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Hasn’t the United States already withdrawn from the Paris Agreement?
Absolutely, but they were still members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is within the framework of this convention that the Paris Agreement was created in 2015.
What other organizations is the United States withdrawing from?
The list is long, but the United States is notably withdrawing from the main international environmental organizations, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Renewable Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, better known by its English acronym, IPBES. To this list we must add organizations like the Human Rights Council, the International Energy Forum and the International Solar Alliance.
What are the reasons given to justify this decision?
The answer is very simple: Donald Trump and his administration have determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain within these different groupings.
Many environmental organizations seem to be targeted by this decree…
In fact, of the 66 organizations concerned, around twenty have the mission of protecting the environment or the transition to renewable energies.
Is this decision a surprise?
“The Trump administration has made clear that it does not care about reducing (greenhouse gas) emissions or mitigating climate change, and has taken steps to subsidize fossil fuel projects and block clean energy development domestically. In this context, it is not surprising that it also withdrew from the UNFCCC and the IPCC,” notes American climatologist Zeke Hausfather in an interview with The Press.
What does this withdrawal of these two important institutions mean?
This decision will have concrete consequences, first for the Americans themselves, according to Caroline Brouillette, executive director of the Climate Action Network Canada. “The biggest losers are American citizens and American industries,” she said. They have a president who prioritizes the interests of the oil and gas industry over ensuring that American companies can compete in a world that is rapidly changing toward renewable energy. » This American withdrawal opens the door wide to China, which is already multiplying initiatives to decarbonize its economy by investing massively in renewable energies, several experts point out. “Will China want to take global leadership? It’s to be seen. But we can already see that it is taking more and more leadership on climate issues,” recalls Hugo Séguin, specialist in climate negotiations and professor at the University of Sherbrooke.
Many American scientists have contributed to IPCC reports or scientific research on climate change. Will this withdrawal harm progress in environmental protection?
“The long-term consequences of this decision are still unclear. On the one hand, this means that the United States will not interfere in the next IPCC report, for example by opposing the formulation of the summary for policy makers or by trying to delay the process, nor in future COP negotiations,” believes Zeke Hausfather. American scientists within federal agencies, such as NASA or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), can no longer contribute to the work of the IPCC. But for the moment, nothing prevents scientists who do not work for the American government from contributing to this research, he points out.
Could the withdrawal of the United States from climate negotiations have a positive impact?
“Good riddance!” », replied Hugo Séguin, when The Press contacted him for comment on this decision. “It clarifies things at a time when we have a hostile American administration, an actor in bad faith. It is entirely logical that they withdraw from the agreements that they denounce in every forum. (…) This is excellent news for countries that want to advance climate issues. » But if other countries followed the example of the United States, it would seriously undermine the international cooperation we need, adds Zeke Hausfather. The American scientist recalls that a future American administration may not be able to easily reintegrate the treaty without the agreement of Congress. “It is much more difficult today than when the United States first joined the UN Framework Convention (in 1992), with a unanimous decision by the Senate. »
Read the executive order signed by the US president (in English)
