UN climate chief warns US withdrawal from IPCC, UNFCCC a ‘colossal own goal’

At the behest of President Donald Trump, the US will withdraw from two intergovernmental climate bodies – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

On January 7, the White House published a list of 66 organisations – membership within which the President says, “is contrary to the interests of the United States”. In addition to the IPCC and UNFCCC, the list includes the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Solar Alliance.

The President’s decision was informed by a report out together by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a statement, Secretary Rubio summarised the Administration’s reasons:

“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity”, the statement reads.

The decision to exit the IPCC, widely considered the world’s leading scientific consensus on climate change, marks a departure from historical precedent. In 2007, former US Vice President Al Gore and the IPCC were jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize. Amongst those who shared that prize was notable American scientist Ko Barret, a former vice-chair of the IPCC.

Dr. Delta Merner, a previous attendee of IPCC meetings, says the US withdrawal will weaken scientific oversight of climate-related information.

“By pulling the United States out of the IPCC, President Trump is deliberately cutting our nation’s formal participation off from the world’s most trusted source of climate science”, says Dr. Merner, who also serves as associate accountability campaign director for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Walking away doesn’t make the science disappear, it only leaves people across the United States, policymakers, and businesses flying in the dark at the very moment when credible climate information is most urgently needed”, Merner adds.

The withdrawal decision also extends to the UNFCCC – the body responsible for convening COP. “Walking away from the UNFCCC in a desperate attempt to cling to a dying fossil fuel era won’t bring economic strength, but weakness and isolation”, notes Savio Carvalgo, managing director for campaigns and networks at 350.org.

In a statement released today, UNFCC executive secretary Simon Stiell warned the decision to exit is a 'colossal own goal' for the US. "The United States was instrumental in creating the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, because they are both entirely in its national interests.", he said. Stiell, however, kept the prospect for re-entry open.

"The doors remain open for the US to reenter in the future, as it has in the past with the Paris Agreement", he said.