The day after the United States announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, described the decision as “regrettable and unfortunate” on Thursday 8 January.
The day before, the White House had confirmed that US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order for the United States to withdraw from 66 international organisations and agreements deemed to be contrary to “American interests”, including several under the auspices of the United Nations, such as the UNFCCC.
Adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, the UNFCCC forms the legal basis for global climate action and subsequent climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, from which the United States withdrew in February 2025 (see EUROPE 13562/13).
In a message posted on the LinkedIn network, Mr Hoekstra reiterated that the UNFCCC “underpins global climate action”. The withdrawal of “the world’s largest economy and second largest emitter of greenhouse gases” weakens international cooperation, he stressed.
The Commissioner nevertheless stressed that the European Union will continue to support international climate research and to work with its partners to take collective action against global warming.
Teresa Ribera, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, also reacted, using the Bluesky network to denounce a US administration that, in her words, “doesn’t care about the environment, health or the suffering of the people”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)