United States (US) President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the US would withdraw from dozens of international and United Nations (UN) entities, including a key climate treaty and a UN body that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment, because they “operate contrary to US national interests.”
Among the 35 non-UN groups and 31 UN entities Trump listed in a memo, opens new tab to senior administration officials is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, described by many as the “bedrock” climate treaty which is parent agreement to the 2015 Paris climate deal.
The US skipped the annual UN international climate summit last year for the first time in three decades.
“The US would be the first country to walk away from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” said Manish Bapna, president and Chief Executive Office of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Every other nation is a member, in part because they recognize that even beyond the moral imperative of addressing climate change, having a seat at the table in those negotiations represents an ability to shape massive economic policy and opportunity,” said Bapna.
The US will also quit UN Women, which works for gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the international body’s agency focused on family planning as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries.
The US cut its funding for the UNFPA last year.
–Reuters–
