January 8, 2026

Trump’s latest blow to climate January 8, 2026 admin Trump Signals US Exit From Key Global Climate Bodies, Deepening Retreat From Climate Cooperation   President Donald Trump has expanded the US retreat from global climate cooperation by signaling withdrawals from major international organizations, including the United Nations and leading scientific bodies focused on climate change. Among the 66 organizations the US plans to leave are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), according to people familiar with the decision. The move is expected to sharply reduce Washington’s role in global efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and significantly weaken the influence of those institutions. The decision aligns with Trump’s broader domestic agenda to roll back environmental regulations and boost fossil-fuel production. It follows his January 2025 order initiating the one-year process to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, the landmark 2015 accord aimed at limiting global warming — a step he also took during his first term. “This is a gift to China and a free pass for countries and polluters that want to avoid accountability,” said John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and climate envoy under President Joe Biden. “It’s a self-inflicted wound on the global stage.” A spokesperson for the UNFCCC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump’s second term has accelerated efforts to dismantle climate-related policies he has repeatedly dismissed as a “hoax.” Funding programs and tax incentives introduced under Biden — including support for clean energy and electric vehicles — have been scrapped. Renewable-energy projects have been halted, research grants frozen or canceled, and public access to certain climate datasets restricted. The administration is dismantling agencies deemed “overreaching, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful and poorly run,” while advancing policies it says better align with US interests, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. A formal withdrawal from the UNFCCC would pull the US out of the UN body that coordinates global emissions targets and organizes the annual COP climate summits. US officials were notably absent from last year’s talks in Brazil. The decision by the world’s largest economy and second-biggest emitter is “deeply regrettable and inappropriate,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the European Union’s climate commissioner. “We will continue to support international climate science without hesitation, as the foundation of our work.” The move represents “the most serious challenge to international climate efforts since the Paris Agreement was adopted,” said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “For China, it means one less competitor in the clean-technology race.” “America is standing alone on climate,” said Carsten Schneider, Germany’s environment minister, adding that other countries remain committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. By exiting the UNFCCC, future US administrations may face a more complicated path to rejoining global climate efforts. In 2021, Biden moved swiftly to re-enter the Paris Agreement immediately after taking office. With assistance from Lili Pike, Eric Roston, Petra Sorge, John Ainger and Laura Millan. Recommended Article Trump’s latest blow to climate Iran Protests Grow as Rial Plunges EV Boom Slows as Subsidies Fade ‘Untouchable’ no longer Blockbuster year Another log on the fire Hybrids pick up speed It’s not all bad news Under New Ownership New front in the war on wind Blown away What the end of the F-150 means walking away from coal The Rising Global Energy Demand