U.S. Withdraws From 66 UN Organizations, Including ReCAAP and UNCTAD
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from another 66 UN organizations and entities, the latest in its pullback from multilateral commitments. Several of these offices are well-known are known to the maritime community; these bodies will now continue their efforts without U.S. government participation or financial support.
In maritime, the affected entities include the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), known for its tracking of pirate activity in the Strait of Malacca and the Sulu Sea; the UN Conference on Trade and Development, which funds research on maritime transport; UN Oceans, a coordinating body within the UN for ocean and seabed policy; and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which classifies endangered species above and below water.
The White House also pulled out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed by all other nations. Likewise, the White House withdrew from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body that produces the global consensus report on the state of climate science, including research on the effects of warming seas.
The administration also withdrew from several security and governance organizations, like the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, and a variety of UN human rights groups.
In a statement, the administration cited several broad reasons for all 66 withdrawals, including misalignment with U.S. climate policy; ideological concerns; and questions of cost-effectiveness.
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"These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively," the White House said in a statement. "President Trump is ending U.S. participation in international organizations that undermine America’s independence and waste taxpayer dollars."
"We reject inertia and ideology in favor of prudence and purpose. We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not," added Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.