Trump withdraws US from ‘unfair’ Paris climate accord, WHO
WASHINGTON—On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and from the World Health Organization (WHO)—an executive action he made during his first term but which his successor, Joe Biden, reversed.
Trump’s move taking back the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate accord is seen as a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.
The Republican leader also declared a “national energy emergency” to expand drilling in the world’s top oil and gas producer, said he would scrap vehicle emissions standards that amount to an “electric vehicle mandate,” and vowed to halt offshore wind farms, a frequent target of his scorn.
“I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off,” he said to cheering supporters at a Washington sports arena after being sworn in. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”
He also signed an order instructing federal agencies to reject international climate finance commitments made under the previous administration, and issued a formal letter to the United Nations notifying it of Washington’s intent to leave the agreement.
Under the accord’s rules, the United States will formally exit in one year.
Agreement to endure
Critics warn the move undermines global cooperation on reducing fossil fuel use and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their commitments, while Argentina, under libertarian President Javier Milei has also said it is “reevaluating” its participation.
“Withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a travesty,” said Rachel Cleetus, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, adding the move “shows an administration cruelly indifferent to the harsh climate change impacts that people in the United States and around the world are experiencing.”
The move comes as global average temperatures over the past two years surpassed a critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time, underscoring the urgency of climate action.
Trump previously withdrew the United States from the Paris accord during his first term. Despite this, the agreement—adopted in 2015 by 195 parties to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change—appears poised to endure.
“The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate, but multilateral climate action has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country’s politics and policies,” said Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the accord. UN climate chief Simon Stiell added the “door remains open” for Washington.
‘Drill, baby, drill!’
Trump also on Monday signed a flurry of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing Biden’s climate legacy.
“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will ‘Drill, baby, drill!’” Trump said.
He also attacked “big, ugly windmills” and said he’d take on Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which channels billions of dollars into clean energy tax credits.
Trump additionally plans to reverse offshore drilling bans enacted by Biden, though such moves are likely to face legal challenges.
Praise, scorn
Trump’s actions drew praise from energy industry leaders, who view the new administration’s policies as a return to “American energy dominance.”
“The US oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the common sense energy solutions Americans voted for,” said Mike Sommers of the American Petroleum Institute.
But they sparked immediate outrage from environmental advocates.
“There is no energy emergency. There is a climate emergency,” said Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“The United States is producing more oil and gas than any country in history,” Bapna said, accusing the Trump administration of “further enriching billionaire oil and gas donors at the people’s expense.”
Trump’s actions come despite overwhelming scientific consensus linking fossil fuel combustion to rising global temperatures and increasingly severe climate disasters.
Hurricanes, wildfires
Last year, the United States endured a barrage of catastrophic hurricanes, including Hurricane “Helene,” the second-deadliest storm to strike the mainland in the past 50 years. Wildfires exacerbated by climate change are currently devastating Los Angeles, leaving widespread destruction in their wake.
Human rights group Amnesty International criticized Trump’s decision to once again withdraw from the Paris Agreement, saying that such action “will cause harm to communities across the globe.”
Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement on Monday that “as one of the world’s largest carbon emitters, the United States has a responsibility to lead the way in ditching fossil fuels and supporting the worldwide transition to zero carbon economies.”
“By refusing to join the international community in taking the necessary steps to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, President Trump is skirting that responsibility,” he said.
Global fight vs disease
On the United States’ withdrawal from WHO, many scientists feared that such a move could roll back decadeslong gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Experts have also cautioned that withdrawing from the organization could weaken the world’s defenses against dangerous new outbreaks capable of triggering pandemics.
During the first Oval Office appearance of his second term, Trump signed an executive order detailing how the withdrawal process might begin.
“Ooh,” Trump exclaimed as he was handed the action to sign. “That’s a big one!”
His move calls for pausing the future transfer of US government funds to the organization, recalling and reassigning federal personnel and contractors working with the WHO and calls on officials to “identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by” the organization.
2020 notice to UN
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to sever ties with WHO. In July 2020, several months after WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic and as cases surged globally, Trump’s administration officially notified UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that the United States was planning to pull out of WHO, suspending funding to the agency.
Biden reversed Trump’s decision on his first day in office in January 2021—only to have Trump essentially revive it on his first day back at the White House four years later.
Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of the advocacy group Resolve to Save Lives, said Trump’s move “makes Americans—and the world—less safe.”
“Withdrawing from WHO not only cuts crucial funding from the agency, but it also surrenders our role as a global health leader and silences America’s voice in critical decisions affecting global health security,” Frieden said in a statement.
Appeal to reconsider
WHO, in another statement, asked the United States to rethink its decision.
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the [US] and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” it said.
WHO is the UN’s specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the world’s response to global health threats, including outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries, helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies and treatments and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.
Devastating impact
Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said in an email that losing American resources would devastate WHO’s global surveillance and epidemic response efforts.
“It would make it more likely that we could see novel diseases spinning out of control, crossing borders, and potentially sparking a pandemic,” he said.
The United States joined WHO via a 1948 joint resolution passed by both chambers of Congress, which has subsequently been supported by all administrations. It has historically been among WHO’s biggest donors, providing the UN health agency not only with hundreds of millions of dollars, but also hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise.
In the last decade, the United States has given WHO about $160 million to $815 million every year. WHO’s yearly budget is about $2 billion to $3 billion. Losing US funding could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.
