WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The US decision to withdraw from the key global climate treaty is a blow to global climate cooperation, says UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
Responding to the U.S. decision to withdraw from UNFCCC, Stiell said, 'The United States was instrumental in creating the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, because they are both entirely in its national interests.'
'While all other nations are stepping forward together, this latest step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse. It is a colossal own goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous.'
Stiell noted 'The doors remain open for the US to reenter in the future, as it has in the past with the Paris Agreement.'
President Donald Trump Wednesday signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the withdrawal of the United States from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and 66 international organizations saying that they no longer serve American interests.
The Memorandum orders all Executive Departments and Agencies to stop participating in and funding 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 UN entities that operate contrary to U.S. national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed regret over the decision by the United States to withdraw from a number of UN entities, while underscoring that the system will continue to deliver on all its mandates.
A statement issued by the UN Spokesperson on behalf of the UN chief reminded that assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States.
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