Remain-In: A Petition to the United States Congress

The United States Must Not Withdraw from the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

On January 7, 2026, the White House issued a memorandum directing federal departments and agencies to withdraw the United States from 66 international efforts — including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“the Convention” or UNFCCC).

This would be a mistake. Withdrawal from the Convention, without even a Senate vote of concurrence, undermines democracy and climate security alike.

The Convention aims “to protect the climate system for present and future generations.” In Article 2, it established the duty of every nation to act to stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”

President George H. W. Bush signed the treaty for the United States on June 12, 1992, and the US Senate approved it for ratification on October 7, 1992, by a margin of 92-0. Virtually every nation is a Party, no nation has formally withdrawn, and the Senate has not approved withdrawal from the Convention.

The overriding objective of the Convention has not yet been achieved as global warming has accelerated, extreme weather events disrupt one region after another, and critical planetary systems approach dangerous tipping points beyond which recovery may prove impossible.

The United States is not immune from severe climate impacts. Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities; marked hydro-climate swings increase the risk of extreme wildfire; and billion-dollar climate-fueled disasters have climbed markedly in recent decades.¹

Impacts to public health, the economy, and the environment will mount unless the transition away from fossil fuels is accelerated, among other critical initiatives.

In the Convention, all signatory nations recognized that we can effectively confront the enveloping crisis only through “the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response.”²

Moreover, treaties approved by two-thirds of the Senate are among the Supreme Law of the Land.³

The United States should remain-in and strengthen the Convention — including through domestic action and international cooperation to phase out the production and use of coal, oil and natural gas in energy systems, among other actions.⁴

Accordingly, the undersigned individuals and organizations, pursuant to their First Amendment right to seek a redress of grievances, hereby petition Congress seeking, at minimum, a Senate, House, or Joint Congressional Resolution.

The United States must remain-in, and not withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.