Climate News

US to leave the UN climate treaty and the IPCC: the first country ever to quit the UNFCCC

The White House issued a presidential memorandum on 7 January 2026 announcing that the United States intends to withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Carbon Brief reports that the memo covers the UNFCCC plus 65 other international bodies, and that the US is the first and only country to announce it wants to leave the 1992 treaty. Under the treaty's rules, a withdrawal takes effect one year after written notice is given to the UN Secretary-General.

Al Jazeera counted 31 UN entities and 35 non-UN bodies on the list, among them the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Solar Alliance. The White House described the groups as "contrary to the interests of the United States". PBS NewsHour noted that the UNFCCC is the underlying treaty for the Paris Agreement, which Trump had already left soon after returning to office.

"This is symbolically and politically huge, but in practice it makes little difference." — Joanna Depledge, University of Cambridge, via Carbon Brief

How each outlet framed it

• Carbon Brief — the legal detail: the one-year notice period and the open question of whether a president can leave a Senate-ratified treaty alone.
• Al Jazeera — the full list, from UN Oceans and UN Water to REDD+, and which bodies the US is staying in.
• PBS NewsHour — US reaction: former climate adviser Gina McCarthy called it a "foolish decision", and Stanford scientist Rob Jackson warned it gives other nations an excuse to delay.

What we don't know yet: whether the move will face a court challenge. Carbon Brief quotes Columbia Law School's Michael Gerrard saying there is "an open legal question" over unilateral withdrawal, and the Supreme Court has never ruled on it.