Faith Organizations Respond UNFCCC Withdrawal
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Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
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The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC) expresses its profound disappointment and grave concern regarding the administration’s decision to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
As an organization representing Maryknoll missioners in more than 25 countries, we witness the climate crisis not as a policy debate, but as a matter of survival. From intensifying droughts in East Africa to rising sea levels in the Pacific and catastrophic flooding in Southeast Asia, our missioners work alonside communities facing life-threatening consequences of a crisis they did not create. By withdrawing from the UNFCCC—the bedrock of international climate cooperation—the United States is abandoning its moral responsibility as a leading global power and as the world’s largest historical contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This isolationist move ignores the scientific consensus and the urgent pleas for climate justice from our global neighbors. We echo the Bishops of the Global South and Pope Leo XIV in affirming that this crisis requires effective multilateral cooperation, not a unilateral refusal to act. “Faith requires us to be stewards of God’s creation” said Lisa Sullivan, Senior Policy Officer for Integral Ecology at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. “Withdrawing from this framework is not just a policy shift; it is a rejection of our duty to protect our common home and the future of all humanity.” We urge the administration to reconsider this decision and call upon Congress and local leaders to reaffirm their commitment to global climate action. We remain steadfast in our mission to advocate for policies that prioritize the integrity of creation and the dignity of every human person. |
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Joint Statement: Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si Movement
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With a single executive action issued on Jan. 7, the President of the United States ordered U.S. withdrawal from 67 international organizations, including 31 United Nations bodies, and many of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to climate science, environmental protection, biodiversity, renewable energy, and sustainable development.
Among those abandoned are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Water, UN Oceans, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. As Catholic organizations committed to caring for God’s creation and protecting human dignity, we are deeply alarmed by this withdrawal from the very forums where nations confront shared global challenges that no country alone can solve. Climate change, ecological degradation, environmental disasters, forced migration, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss do not recognize national borders. Turning away from international cooperation on these issues does not make them disappear; it only leaves the most vulnerable and marginalized people, along with future generations, more exposed to harm. For Catholics, this moment is pivotal in defending one of the core tenets of our faith: caring for creation. As Pope Leo XIV said, “We cannot love God, whom we cannot see, while despising his creatures. Nor can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ without participating in his outlook on creation and his care for all that is fragile and wounded.” Pope Francis wrote in the groundbreaking encyclical Laudato Si’ that “the climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.” Pope Leo XIV has reiterated that creation itself is crying out — through floods, droughts, storms, hunger, and displacement — and that those who suffer most are those who contributed least to the problem. Pope Leo XIV recently echoed Pope Francis in his speech at the Raising Hope Conference, held in Rome on Oct. 1, 2025, quoting Laudate Deum, saying that, “the most effective solutions will not come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political decisions on the national and international levels.” Withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and related organizations weakens the collective capacity of other nations to pursue these solutions. At a time when the world is failing to limit global warming to 1.5°C (the maximum temperature rise scientists recommend), retreating from cooperation only moves us backward. Additionally, withdrawing from global institutions dedicated to climate science, environmental protection, and sustainable development undermines our responsibility to listen to both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor. The United States’ withdrawal from the IPCC and other scientific organizations is especially troubling. Irrefutable data and legitimate science are not partisan threats; they are gifts that allow humanity to understand reality truthfully and respond wisely. Catholic teaching affirms the vital role of science and scientific advancement in informing moral decision-making, particularly when human lives and the integrity of God’s creation are at stake. We reject the false dichotomy between national interest and global responsibility presented by this Administration; they are not either-or. They are both-and. Protecting clean air, safe water, a stable climate, and thriving ecosystems is in the true and long-term interest of the United States and the entire human family. Authentic leadership does not seek isolation. Despite this discouraging decision, we reaffirm our hope. At the Raising Hope conference, Pope Leo XIV reminded us of our interconnectedness: “We are one family, with one Father, who makes the sun to rise and sends rain on everyone (cf. Matthew 5:45). We inhabit the same planet, and we must care for it together.” Hope is rooted not in political power alone, but in faith, solidarity, and persistent action. Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si’ Movement-North America will continue to accompany dioceses, parishes, schools, institutions, and communities as they live out the call of Laudato Si’. We will continue to advocate for ecological policies grounded in science, that pursue justice, and that embody compassion. We will continue to stand with frontline communities at home and around the world who bear the brunt of climate change. We, the leaders of the Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si’ Movement-North America, urge Catholics and all people of goodwill to:
At this critical moment, in the face of such a global threat, withdrawing from the world is not the path forward. The Gospel calls us outward — toward solidarity, cooperation, and shared responsibility for our common home. |
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Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
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In withdrawing from bedrock international climate agreements, President Trump is doubling down on fossil fuels, locking us into an increasingly dangerous and unlivable future. Our country will become hotter and drier, and climate disasters will become even more severe and frequent; corporations’ stranglehold on energy resources will tighten, delivering higher prices to consumers and enormous profits to fossil fuel executives; and systemic inequality and racism will deepen, as communities on the frontlines suffer increasingly from illness and premature death caused by toxic pollution.
President Trump’s reckless withdrawal is a shanda (shameful act) – demonstrating yet again how our country is acting against the collective progress we so desperately need. Nearly every other country – especially China and the European Union – are investing in the promise of clean energy solutions that will reduce greenhouse emissions and slow the heating of our planet. Ironically – and tragically – at the same time as President Trump is isolating the US, he is violating international law and standards by invading other countries to plunder their resources. To be clear, withdrawing from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is just the latest effort to prop up the fossil fuel industry and abort progress towards a more livable future. Having rolled back myriad climate regulations, eliminated the legal framework for curbing deadly emissions, denied and destroyed scientific climate data, and halted the development of wind and solar energy, President Trump is now pulling the US out of one of the most foundational international agreements to address the climate crisis. While it’s no surprise, it is a violation of values that have guided our country since the beginning, and flies in the face of what Jewish communities hold dear. Rather than bowing to the demands of the fossil fuel industry and abandoning international climate efforts, we should be working to preserve life – a concept in Jewish tradition known as pikuach nefesh – and investing in solutions that will enable us to live and thrive l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. |
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National Religious Partnership for the Environment
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On Wednesday, January 7, President Trump announced that he intends to withdraw the U.S. from the UNFCCC, a bedrock international climate treaty signed by all other nations in the world.
While it remains unclear as to whether or not Trump has the legal authority to withdraw the U.S from the treaty, which was ratified unanimously by the Senate in 1992 — the attempt signals another rejection of our collective moral obligation to care for God's creation and protect our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. As we did when this Administration removed the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, we join the chorus of faith-based organizations and religious bodies reaffirming our commitment to take meaningful action on climate change. |
