UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations confirmed that it had received official notification from Washington of its withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement.
"The United States notified the Secretary-General, in his capacity as depositary, of its withdrawal, on 27 January 2025, from the Paris Agreement of 12 December 2015," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, said at a daily briefing.
"According to Article 28, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, the withdrawal of the United States will take effect on January 27, 2026," he said.
The spokesman reaffirmed the UN's commitment to the Paris Agreement and support all effective efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Xinhua news agency reported.
US President Donald Trump, on his first day back in the White House, signed an executive order to withdraw his country from the Paris climate accord for the second time.
Trump signed a letter to the UN’s secretary general communicating the nation’s withdrawal and its reasoning at the post-inauguration rally immediately after. Prior to leaving office, former President Joe Biden had submitted the nation’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution target to the UN, targeting a 61-66 per cent reduction in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
The first Trump administration officially let the United States exit the Paris Agreement in November 2020, dealing a major blow to international efforts to combat the climate crisis. Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump in January 2021, signed an executive order after taking office to bring his country back into the accord.
Trump exited the Paris Agreement during his first term, and the order fulfills a campaign trail promise to do so again. The decision signals an abrupt course of reversal on the nation’s federal climate policy and was followed by additional orders declaring a national energy emergency, recissions of Biden-era climate policies and encouraging energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters.