The White House on Wednesday said the United States will withdraw from over 60 international organizations, including more than 30 United Nations entities and several trade and conservation groups.
Among the 66 groups the U.S. will no longer participate in are the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Center, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively,” a fact sheet explaining the decision reads. “By exiting these entities, President Trump is saving taxpayer money and refocusing resources on America First priorities.”
Last February, the president directed the State Department to assess U.S. membership in all international and UN organizations and determine if any are misaligned with U.S. interests.
Wednesday’s memorandum directing the heads of US departments and agencies to pull U.S. funding and exit the groups reflects the State Department’s findings, the White House said.
U.S. membership will continue in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which is not listed among the groups. FAO officials had been anxious about the future of U.S. membership following the announcement of the State Department review last year, but were buoyed by signals of renewed U.S. commitment in recent months.
However, President Donald Trump left the door open to further withdrawals in the future.
“My review of further findings of the Secretary of State remains ongoing,” Wednesday’s memorandum reads.
Among those losing U.S. funding and participation are UNCTAD, which works to advance developing economy interests in international trade, and the International Trade Center, a joint agency between the UN and World Trade Organization that helps small businesses in developing countries trade internationally.
Others targeted include the ICAC, which serves as an international commodity body for cotton, with membership from cotton-producing and cotton-consuming countries, and the ITTO, which promotes sustainable and legal trade growth in tropical timber.
In addition to pulling the U.S. out of the UN’s climate science organization, the IPCC, the president also announced withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – which served as the legal basis for the 2016 Paris agreement to reduce global emissions.
“Many of these bodies promote radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength,” the White House fact sheet argues.
Multiple Democrats on the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition denounced the decision.
“Trump is abandoning America's international leadership and allowing competitors and adversaries to step into the void we leave behind,” the coalition’s leadership, which includes House Ag Committee member Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said in a statement.
“At a time when climate change impacts are accelerating – whether it’s ever-worsening fire seasons, more intense hurricanes, or prolonged droughts – choosing withdrawal over leadership is shortsighted and profoundly irresponsible. Climate change does not respect borders, and we cannot address this crisis alone,” they said.
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