In a surprise move that has sent shockwaves through the international community, the Trump administration has announced its intention to withdraw the United States from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the world’s most important climate treaty. However, legal experts are now questioning whether the president has the authority to unilaterally exit the agreement.
The decision, outlined in a presidential memorandum issued this week, marks the first time any country has sought to leave the UNFCCC. The memo states that the US “shall withdraw” from the treaty, along with 65 other international organisations and agencies that the administration deems “contrary to the interests of the United States”.
While the UNFCCC requires a one-year notice period for withdrawal, the legality of Trump’s move has been called into doubt. Harold Hongju Koh, a former State Department legal adviser, told the Guardian that in his opinion, the president “does not have the authority” to withdraw the US from the treaty unilaterally.
The UNFCCC was ratified by the US Senate in 1992 with bipartisan support, and some experts argue that the same level of congressional approval should be required to exit the agreement. “If my wife and I made an agreement that both of us had to sign, could I withdraw from it by myself? I believe we would both have to withdraw,” said Koh, now a professor at Yale University.
Other legal scholars, however, contend that the president has the power to unilaterally withdraw from treaties, even if that power has not been explicitly tested in the courts. Curtis Bradley, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, said presidents have “long asserted the authority to withdraw the United States from treaties and other international agreements without seeking the approval of either the Senate or Congress.”
The issue is further complicated by the fact that the Paris climate agreement, which the US also withdrew from in 2017, was never ratified by the Senate. This raises questions about whether a future president could rejoin the UNFCCC without securing a new two-thirds Senate vote.
Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island, has condemned Trump’s move as “not just corrupt, it’s illegal,” arguing that once a treaty has been ratified by the Senate, only the Senate can withdraw from it.
The controversy over the legality of Trump’s actions comes as the world grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change. Experts warn that the US withdrawal from the UNFCCC will further damage the country’s international credibility and leadership on global issues.
“Trump’s contempt for international efforts to build peace and solidarity continues to shred the nation’s international credibility and will cause irreparable damage to current and future generations both at home and abroad,” said Melinda St Louis of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
As the legal battle over the withdrawal plays out, the future of US participation in the global fight against climate change remains uncertain. However, some experts believe that even if Trump’s move is successful, a future president could relatively seamlessly rejoin the UNFCCC based on the Senate’s original approval in 1992.
