The United States has announced it is withdrawing from 66 international organizations, many of them linked directly or indirectly to the United Nations system. The decision, announced by President Donald Trump and reinforced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reflects a renewed “America First” approach to foreign policy and multilateral engagement. The full list of cut funding is here. Given the pro-terror stance for organizations funded by the UN Green Prophet sympathizes with the US and understand that what appear as cleantech or environmental projects is money sent to support countries that are anti-environment, such as Qatar. Read our article on the Union for the Mediterranean.

“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,” Rubio said. “These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans — we will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests. The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.” The administration added that its review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.

Although the full list has not yet been released, the move has immediate relevance for sustainability, climate policy, science, and culture, where the US has historically been one of the largest financial contributors. Several UN bodies central to environmental governance are widely expected to be affected, either through full withdrawal, funding cuts, or reduced engagement.

Among the most consequential is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which oversees global climate negotiations including the annual COP summits. This year the COP31 event will be held in Antalya, Turkey. The US has already exited the Paris Agreement once under Trump and rejoined under President Biden; this announcement raises fresh uncertainty about America’s long-term role in global climate coordination.

The United Nations Environment Programme is another body closely tied to sustainability. UNEP coordinates international research, policy guidance, and monitoring on biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate adaptation. Critics in Washington argue that UNEP promotes regulatory frameworks that conflict with US economic and energy interests, while supporters say it provides essential scientific coordination that no single country can replicate alone.

Cultural and scientific organizations are also in focus. The UN’s UNESCO, which works on education, heritage protection, and science cooperation, has long been criticized by US conservatives for what they see as politicization and perceived institutional bias, particularly in resolutions related to Israel and the Middle East.

Sustainability advocates note that UNESCO’s work on water resources, ocean science, and heritage conservation often intersects directly with environmental protection. This is true, but the UN funds organizations that seem harmless, but which take a very clear political point of view that contradicts American policies and allies.

Other bodies potentially affected include the Food and Agriculture Organization, which addresses food security and sustainable farming, and the World Health Organization, whose work increasingly links environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change to public health outcomes.

Related: The UN and EU fund anti-west biases in Spain

The administration and its supporters argue that many UN and EU-aligned institutions have developed ideological and structural biases that reflect European policy preferences more than American priorities. In the EU and UN funded Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the organization operates like a pan-Arab support network instead of servicing actual countries in the Mediterranean. These critiques often point to heavy emphasis on precautionary regulation, climate mandates, and social frameworks that are seen as misaligned with US energy production, industrial competitiveness, and national sovereignty.

On the other hand, critics warn that disengagement from UN sustainability institutions risks reducing US influence over global standards that will shape markets, trade, and technology regardless of American participation.

For sustainability advocates, the moment highlights a deeper tension: whether environmental governance is best pursued through global institutions or through national and regional strategies. I personally believe that more power should be put into the hands of local organizations. The bigger and more bloated EU and UN organizations become (with non-elected leaders), the more political biases and racism creep into global policies and perception. The world needs a reset and to restart well intentioned cooperation projects from start. Because right now the UN and EU projects look like software built on code from the 80s, rickety, patched, slow to adapt, and prone to crashing under the weight of outdated assumptions.

Karin Kloosterman – Green Prophet

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The experimental flying lab better known as Solar Impulse 2 was launched today in Abu Dhabi.  The groundbreaking airplane will circumnavigate the world flying both day and night without using a single drop of fossil fuel.  Said co-pilot Betrand Piccard, “You can achieve miracles with renewable energy and clean technologies.”

Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg (pictured left and right, above) announced that their game-shifting flight will begin in late February (weather-dependent) and return to the UAE capital about four months later.  Which pilot flies first will be settled by a coin toss.

Abu Dhabi was selected as the best departure point due to its climate, infrastructure, and commitment to clean technology.  The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company,  more commonly known as Masdar, is providing logistical support – shipping the plane from Switzerland to the UAE – as well as supporting flight launch and landing events.

Piccard told the audience, “We aim to achieve what no one has even dared to try”, explaining that the project has no predecessors from which to cull designs or glean lessons learned.  “This is to prove that the impossible is possible,” he added.

This plane has a 72-meter wingspan (similar to a Boeing 747) and is made of innovative technologies that maximize functionality while reducing weight: at 2,300 kg, it weighs as much as a family car.

An array of technical partners have been involved since project inception, including Google, Belgian chemical company Solway, power and automation giant ABB, Bayer Material Science, elevator-escalator experts Schindler, Swiss Re,  Altran and others listed on the Solar Impulse website. Their collective research and innovative product development has already found non-aeronautical applications in improved insulation for homes and home appliances, solvent-free fabric manufacture, lightweighting of automotive vehicles, and new battery storage solutions for solar-generated energy.

The pilots described their route which includes stops in 12 countries flying eastward from Abu Dhabi and entails continuous flights across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  The plane will descend to 9,000 feet during night travel to minimize energy use, which in turn influences their flight path, requiring that they avoid highly mountainous terrain.

Geopolitics also plays a role in route planning.  Piccard recalled that, 16 years ago when he circumnavigated the world in a hot air balloon, all countries in the Middle East were potential landing points. Civil war, radicalism and unrest in the modern Middle East means that today, during their Mediterranean crossing, few nations are safe for landing and for hosting associated media events.  So they presently plan to fly from Spain or Morocco across Saudi Arabia on their return to the United Arab Emirates.

Pilots will alternate after each estimated 20-hour leg, stopping for plane maintenance and to alternate positions in the cockpit.  Each stop will be coordinated with site events focused on education and public engagement. Human capability will be as tested as technology. Equipped with bespoke flight suits that monitor vital signs, protect from cold temperatures, and act as wearable toilets, it remains to be seen whether the men will be able to endure long periods of wakefulness and maintain alertness.

One reporter asked if the pilots were afraid of the risks.  Piccard tossed back, “I’m more afraid to live in a world that burns one billion tons of oil every hour that destroys the planet and pollutes the environment, than to fly solar-powered planes.”

Another reporter asked if Piccard was aware that a Star Trek character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, shared his name.  The pilot replied that the fictional character was in fact named after his grandfather’s twin brother, Jean Felix Piccard, a pioneer of early ballooning. This man is genetically wired for this expedition.

Solar Impulse 2 has over 17,000 solar cells embedded on its wings which power four 17.4hp electric motors. The cells also charge lithium batteries which will allow for continuous night flight. An earlier prototype of the solar plane successfully completed the first night flight in 2010.

The plane is equipped with five cameras allowing the entire flight to be broadcast live on the Solar Impulse 2 website. The project aims to be interactive and incite support and raised awareness of the need to wean the planet off fossil fuels. An online survey will launch soon, inviting the world to send urgent messages to their leaders and governments pressuring for sustainable policies and investment. In December, the pilots will bring the  results of that survey to the 21st session of the COP climate talks in Paris.

“Many governments say we need more R&D, we need to wait, before we have renewable energies in their country. Forget that, we have today enough energy efficiency technologies to halve the consumption of the world, and renewable technologies that can provide the rest,” said Piccard.

Find more information and track progress on the Solar Impulse 2 website – link here.

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