United States President Donald Trump has withdrawn the country from 66 international organisations, including 31 bodies linked to the United Nations, through an executive order issued on Wednesday, January 7. The move marks one of the most extensive pullbacks from global institutions under Trump’s second presidential term and reinforces his long-standing “America first” policy framework.
The withdrawal follows a review process initiated in January 2025, when Trump directed the Secretary of State to examine all international intergovernmental organisations that the United States either funds or holds membership in. The aim was to identify entities considered “contrary to the interests of the United States,” a phrase frequently used by Trump while criticising what he sees as unfair treatment of the US by multilateral platforms.
Climate, conservation bodies among those affected
Several climate and environmental organisations feature on the withdrawal list. These include the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Also included is the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a global solar energy initiative headquartered in India.
The ISA was launched as a joint initiative between India and France, built around the idea that countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn could collectively harness solar power to meet their energy needs. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the alliance was formally conceptualised during the COP21 climate summit in Paris in 2015, the same event that led to the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate action.
What the International Solar Alliance does
The alliance operates around its flagship ‘Towards 1000’ strategy, aimed at mobilising “$1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030 while delivering energy access to 1,000 million people using clean energy solutions and resulting in the installation of 1,000 GW of solar energy capacity.” Initially limited to tropical nations, a 2020 amendment expanded membership eligibility to all UN member states.
According to the ISA’s official records, over 100 countries have signed the framework agreement, with more than 90 having ratified it as full members. However, progress has remained uneven. Accoring to an Indian Express report of 2024, while the alliance has supported preparatory work such as regulatory frameworks, power purchase agreements and capacity-building efforts—particularly in Africa and Latin America—many proposed projects are yet to be implemented.
This slow pace has unfolded even as global solar capacity expanded rapidly between 2019 and 2024, growing at more than 20 per cent annually. The expansion, however, has been highly concentrated, with China accounting for a significant share of global installations. For India, the ISA has also served a strategic role, strengthening engagement with countries across the Global South.
Trump’s objections to renewable energy
Trump’s decision to withdraw from the ISA aligns with his broader scepticism towards renewable energy and climate policy. In 2025, he described climate change as “The greatest con job,” a stance consistent with his first term in office between 2017 and 2021, during which his administration rolled back multiple clean energy initiatives.
During that period, official data cited by Forbes in 2019 showed that solar energy accounted for a significantly larger share of employment in the US electric power sector than fossil fuels. However, the same report noted that “However, solar energy jobs have stagnated and dipped for two consecutive years since the Department of Energy’s initial report, with a loss of 10,000 jobs in 2017 followed by a further 8,000 in 2018.” The decline was partly attributed to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on imported solar panels.
Recent developments suggest continued regulatory tightening. According to a Reuters report, only one solar project has been approved on federal land since Trump returned to office in January 2025. Further approvals have stalled since July last year, after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum mandated that all new renewable energy decisions require his personal clearance.