WASHINGTON, D.C. —  The United States withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will harm decades of progress on the climate crisis, threaten American jobs, and reduce economic opportunities as other countries increasingly look elsewhere for clean energy technologies and climate solutions. By stepping back from international leadership, we risk reducing exports, job opportunities and leaving communities, workers, and wildlife less prepared for the escalating impacts of climate change at home.

“The United States already has the scientific expertise and innovative capacity to lead the global clean energy economy and reduce the dangerous impacts of extreme weather and climate change,” said Shannon Heyck-Williams, associate vice president of climate and energy at the National Wildlife Federation. “Walking away from international cooperation will waste precious time we can’t afford to lose, while eroding our hard-won gains for wildlife and communities and putting America further behind in the clean technology race. For the next several years, it will fall to states, cities, business, and all of us to continue charting a path towards a safer future for people and wildlife. However, the United States must ultimately join – and lead – global efforts to tackle these crises before it’s too late.”