Consortium Statement on the U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

On behalf of more than 700,000 physicians and thousands of allied health professionals across the United States, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health expresses deep concern over the executive order directing U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This decision represents a profound setback for the health and well-being of the American people.

Climate change is not a distant threat—it is a present health emergency affecting our patients every day. As healthcare professionals on the frontlines, we witness how extreme heat, worsening air pollution, wildfires, floods, and climate-driven disasters overwhelm our healthcare systems, exacerbate chronic diseases, and deepen health inequities in the communities we serve. The UNFCCC has been essential to coordinating global efforts to reduce the pollution driving these harms, share critical health data, and strengthen health system preparedness.

Withdrawing from this framework weakens international cooperation precisely when collective action is most vital to protecting lives. Climate pollution knows no borders—when emissions rise anywhere, health risks rise everywhere, including here at home. By stepping away from climate leadership, the United States undermines efforts to limit the extreme heat, poor air quality, and severe weather that endanger our most vulnerable patients: children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and those with chronic conditions.

This withdrawal also jeopardizes America’s health security and economic stability. Climate-related disasters disrupt healthcare delivery, damage hospitals and medical supply chains, drive up healthcare costs, and reduce workforce productivity. Isolating the United States from global climate solutions places American families and businesses at greater risk while offering no protection from the health harms already unfolding across our nation.

For over 30 years, the United States has followed scientific evidence and worked with the international community to address climate change while supporting economic prosperity and public health. Abandoning this effort means American communities will breathe dirtier air, face worse health outcomes, pay higher energy bills, and miss opportunities that come with leading the transition to clean energy.

As health professionals, we understand that preventing disease is always preferable to treating it. Protecting public health requires science-based policy, preparedness, and global cooperation. This withdrawal moves our nation in the opposite direction—away from prevention and toward avoidable illness, suffering, and loss of life.

We call on states, cities, healthcare institutions, and the private sector to carry forward climate action within their power to reduce pollution, protect public health, and build resilient communities. We urge national leadership to re-engage with the international community and recommit to climate action as the public health imperative it is. The health of our patients, our communities, and future generations depends on it.

The views expressed here are of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health and not necessarily of its medical society members.