Yvo de Boer, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), spoke to CGTN Europe and expressed deep concern over the U.S. decision to withdraw from the convention. He noted the irony that the U.S. played a central role in creating the UNFCCC, and warned that its exit carries serious global consequences. De Boer rejected the idea that the convention undermines American national interests, stressing that the UNFCCC’s strength lies in consensus, participation, and collective responsibility.
00:00Welcome to Ivo Dubor, the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
00:08Welcome to the program. First of all, let me ask you your reaction to the U.S. withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
00:20In a word, saddening. The United States was one of the architects of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
00:31In fact, at the time, Republican President H.W. Bush played a key role in achieving that international treaty.
00:40And in his 1988 campaign, he actually said, those who think we're powerless to do anything about the greenhouse effect are forgetting about the White House effect.
00:49So, in other words, watch out if you don't take action. And now it's almost the reverse and saying, watch out if you do take action.
00:56Can you give us some context then? I mean, how serious is it when the White House walks away from the foundation?
01:07Incredibly serious in the sense that it's the United States has always been a major political player inside the political process.
01:16Secondly, it's part of a larger constituency of countries that hold a fairly similar view.
01:24The U.S. has been a major contributor financially to the budget of the convention and the activities that it undertakes.
01:32And, of course, having one of the most powerful countries in the world back away from this international treaty does significant damage.
01:40When President Trump says organizations like this are woke and act against the American national interest, what's the basis for that? Is he right?
01:54No, I don't think he's right. I think that, you know, it's in the U.S.'s interest, as in everybody's interest, to safeguard us against the severe impacts of climate change.
02:04But the more bizarre thing, in a way, is that the U.N. Climate Convention is a process that takes decisions by consensus.
02:12So if you don't want the process to go in a direction that you don't like, you're much better off being at the table rather than away from it.
02:21I'm sure we'll talk more in coming weeks, but for the moment we have to leave it there.
02:25Thank you very much indeed for your time, Ivo de Boer, the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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