United States Formally Withdraws from Paris Agreement for Second Time

The United States has officially exited the Paris Agreement for the second time, with the notification of withdrawal submitted by the Trump administration formally taking effect, making the US the only country to have ever departed from the 194-nation climate accord. The withdrawal follows an executive order signed by President Trump on his first day in office in January 2025.

The US first withdrew from the Paris Agreement under Trump's first term, then rejoined under President Biden in early 2021. Trump signed a new executive order to withdraw again on his first day back in office, with the UN issuing a formal notification of withdrawal on 27 January 2025 and the withdrawal taking effect one year later. Trump has described climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world" and has actively reversed climate actions from the Biden administration, including cancelling billions in clean energy awards and halting all major US offshore wind projects.

The US exit is significant given the country's position as the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Trump has also announced plans to withdraw the US from the UNFCCC itself, the parent treaty to the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. The UNFCCC did not issue an official statement on the formal withdrawal but posted on social media noting that at COP30 in Brazil, 194 countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement's goals. The US Climate Alliance, a coalition of 24 state governors, has pledged to maintain commitments to Paris targets at the state level.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Co-Chair of the US Climate Alliance, said California would not retreat from climate action and would continue working with international partners to cut pollution and lead the clean energy economy. The formal withdrawal raises questions about the future of US engagement on global climate finance commitments and the Nationally Determined Contributions process under the UNFCCC. The exit from the agreement is expected to complicate COP30 negotiations on the new collective quantified goal for climate finance.

Key figure — 194 countries