New Delhi: US President Donald Trump’s latest action is as controversial as any before, triggering the latest geopolitical storm the world over. This pertains
to the US exiting the foundational international agreement to address the climate crisis, along with the US is also expected to quit 66 other international organisations.
The move was announced in a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday, saying the US is withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with 65 other organizations, agencies and commissions, calling them “contrary to the interests of the United States”.
A significant step
The move was also announced by Secretary Marco Rubio who took to X and said, “Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations. Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing. These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans – we will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests. The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.”
The move is significant as the UNFCCC treaty forms the bedrock of international cooperation to deal with the climate crisis. The treaty has been agreed to by every country in the world since its inception, with the US Senate ratifying it in October 1992.
Despite the importance of the treaty, US President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of climate sciences, often calling them a “scam”. Last year, Trump said the US would exit the Paris climate deal, a move he also undertook during his first Presidential term to massive international scrutiny.
What does it mean?
The decision by Donald Trump to withdraw from 66 international organisations marks a dramatic escalation of the President’s “America First” doctrine. It is more importantly in line with several other recent decisions of Trump that point to the start of a more unilateral world view.
Aimed primarily at UN-linked institutions, Trump’s administration looks to no longer see any merit in continuing with many organisations based on global cooperation. It is being touted as part of the American attempt to combat “globalist” regulatory influence. Seen in this vein, Trump’s move looks to distance himself from global stages of cooperation, even Western ones.
What is perhaps most significant is that though earlier most global institutions that Trump is quitting were led by the US, Trump’s insistence to completely distance from them shows his intention to completely disengage from cooperative global policy making and diplomacy. This step will result in major changes in how global politics operate, and affect players such as China, Russia and the European Union, all of which would have to look for ways to act in this new power vacuum.
