US Withdraws From Key Science Bodies: Impact & Future Engagement
On January 7, 2026, President Donald Trump announced the United States would withdraw from more than 60 international organizations, including key scientific bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The decision to exit IPBES, the leading international authority on the science of nature decline, was described by its chair, Dr. David Obura, as harmful to all nations, including the United States. “Any major country not being part of it harms everybody, including themselves,” Obura stated in an interview with Carbon Brief.
The Trump administration’s move, part of a broader pattern of disengagement from multilateral institutions, follows a previous withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. According to a report in Nature, the administration is exiting 32 United Nations agencies in total. Researchers expressed confidence that the withdrawal wouldn’t severely affect their work, but concerns remain about the long-term implications for global scientific collaboration.
Dr. Obura warned that the warming already underway has likely pushed coral reefs to a tipping point, making their loss inevitable. He also expressed pessimism about achieving a global goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, stating, “We won’t be able to do it fast enough at this point.” Despite this, he emphasized the importance of addressing the underlying drivers of biodiversity decline within the next four years, asserting that economies and societies “fully depend on nature.”
The decision to withdraw from IPBES and the IPCC was made alongside exits from organizations like the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The administration’s rationale, as reported by Nature, centers on concerns about national sovereignty and financial contributions to these international bodies. However, critics argue that cutting support for international scientific capabilities will ultimately damage U.S. Interests.
At a recent IPBES meeting in Manchester, UK, governments agreed on a report highlighting how the “undervaluing” of nature by businesses is contributing to biodiversity decline and posing risks to the global economy. The US was present at this meeting, but its future participation in such collaborative efforts is now uncertain.
The withdrawal from these organizations leaves a gap in US engagement with critical international scientific assessments. According to a report in Science, scientists, universities, civil society, and philanthropies will need to step in to ensure continued US involvement with IPCC, and IPBES.