US Retreat From Global Bodies Weakens Rule of Law

The Trump administration’s sweeping executive order to withdraw the United States from dozens of United Nations bodies and international organisations, as well as from a treaty ratified with the advice and consent of the US Senate, represents a targeted assault on multilateralism, international law and global institutions critical to safeguarding human rights, peace and climate justice.

The move, whose constitutionality and legal effect are questionable, was announced under the guise of protecting US interests but does precisely the opposite. By retreating from global cooperation on the environment, human rights, democracy and peace, the United States places its own future—and that of the planet—at greater risk.

The executive order reflects a deliberate effort to dismantle the international infrastructure designed to uphold human dignity, protect children, improve gender and racial equality, advance sustainable development, preserve the oceans and confront the climate crisis. It undermines institutions that safeguard the global commons and ensure basic protections for marginalised and vulnerable populations worldwide, including refugees, women, children and people of African descent.

Rebecca Brown, President and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), said:
“This executive order is not just a policy shift—it is a direct assault on the multilateral system that has helped prevent conflict, advance human rights and protect the global commons for nearly eighty years. At a time when rising seas, record heat and deadly disasters demand urgent, coordinated action, the US government is choosing to retreat.”

She added that the decision to defund and withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) does not absolve the United States of its legal obligations to prevent climate change and address climate-related harm, as affirmed by the world’s highest court last year.

“This action is a continuation of the administration’s efforts to prioritise corporate interests over people and the planet, and to flout the rule of law,” Brown said.

Withdrawing from institutions designed to support global climate action does not change the reality of the climate crisis, refute the overwhelming evidence of its causes or erase the United States’ responsibility for its impacts. Instead, such withdrawal further isolates the country, to the detriment of its own population and billions of people around the world.