Overview
- A Jan. 7 presidential directive ordered withdrawal from more than 60 organizations and treaties, naming the UNFCCC and IPCC, with agencies beginning implementation where allowed by law.
- Human Rights Watch says the broader pullback will weaken cooperation and scientific assessment and could harm protections for health, housing, water and other rights.
- The group argues leaving the UNFCCC is more consequential than exiting the Paris Agreement because it removes the U.S. from negotiations that shape global rules on reporting, carbon markets, adaptation and finance.
- President Trump has publicly disparaged climate policies, calling the “carbon footprint” a hoax in a September U.N. address that signals the administration’s stance.
- Conservative commentary reports the EPA is expected as early as February to move to rescind the 2009 greenhouse‑gas endangerment finding, a step likely to trigger protracted court challenges.