Children in a Jonglei state of South Sudan draining water due to flooding on April 2, 2023. Photo by Aropmathewdaniel and available via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0,
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Opposes U.S. Withdrawal from Global Climate Framework
The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the UNFCCC means the United States is neglecting its moral responsibility as a global power and the largest historical contributor to the climate crisis.
Download the statement as a PDF
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.
Photo by Aropmathewdaniel and available via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
