(LifeSiteNews) — A Trump administration official informed the United Nations that the U.S. rejects the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, minister-counselor Edward Heartney of the U.S. mission to the UN said that its 2030 Agenda is “a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans,” according to an Associated Press (AP) report.
Agenda 2030 has been touted as a “global partnership” and “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity” with 17 “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries.”
The authors of the plan claim that “ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth,” emphasizing that this be done “while tackling climate change.”
Agenda 2030 was adopted by the UN in September 2015. Three months later, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (PACC) was ratified. Both ambitious projects were welcomed by the Obama administration. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from participation in the PACC early in his first term in the White House.
On Day One of his second term, Trump directed the U.S. Ambassador to the UN to:
- Immediately submit written formal notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, or any relevant party, of the United States’ withdrawal from any agreement, pact, accord, or similar commitment made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- Immediately cease or revoke any purported financial commitment made by the United States under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
His order also declared that the “U.S. International Climate Finance Plan is revoked and rescinded immediately. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall, within 10 days of this order, issue guidance for the rescission of all frozen funds.”
“In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country’s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives,” the President wrote. “Moreover, these agreements steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people.”
“Members of the Trump administration have said that U.S. President Donald Trump believes the United Nations should refocus on its ‘founding purpose’ of preserving international peace and security,” explained Richard Gowan, writing at Foreign Policy. The administration has announced “a full review of all U.S. multilateral commitments and treaties, which include the U.N. Charter. But Washington has offered little detail about what Trump’s vision of a peace-focused U.N. would look like.”
According to a separate AP report, Trump administration freezes on U.S. foreign aid have led many UN agencies to cut staff, budgets, and services.
