On January 7, President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from dozens of international organizations and agencies under the United Nations, including an important climate treaty and an agency promoting gender equality, on the grounds that these organizations "operate against US national interests".
In the memorandum sent to senior government officials, 66 organizations that the US will withdraw from, including 35 non-United Nations international organizations and 31 United Nations agencies.
This list includes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - which is considered by many to be the "foundation" of the global climate treaty system and the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Last year, the US for the first time in 3 decades did not attend the annual UN climate summit.
According to the memorandum, the US will also withdraw from UN Women - the United Nations agency promoting gender equality and empowerment for women, along with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization focused on family planning and maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. The US has cut funding for UNFPA since last year.
For UN agencies, withdrawal means stopping participation or stopping funding within the scope of the law" - the memorandum stated. Previously, the Trump administration had sharply cut voluntary contributions to most UN agencies.
Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not yet commented on the information.
The US will be the first country to withdraw from UNFCCC" - Chairman and Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Mr. Manish Bapna, said.
“Every other country is a member, partly because they realize that in addition to their ethical obligations in responding to climate change, being at the negotiating table also helps shape large-scale economic policies and opportunities” - Mr. Bapna added.
