Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

United Nations body that assesses climate science and provides the scientific basis for international climate policy. - Primary international authority on climate science

For decades, scientists assumed that forests and soils were absorbing roughly 30% of humanity's carbon dioxide emissions. A major reassessment published in Nature in January 2026 shows they've been overestimating: the natural land carbon sink is actually 20% smaller than previously calculated—0.6 billion tonnes of carbon per year that scientists thought was being absorbed is staying in the atmosphere.

Updated Feb 10

Nobel Prize-winning body that produces authoritative reports on climate science, impacts, and solutions. - Also included in Trump's withdrawal from 66 organizations

President Trump signed a memorandum on January 7, 2026, directing withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change—the 1992 treaty that George H.W. Bush signed and the Senate unanimously ratified. The US becomes the first of 198 parties ever to leave the foundational climate treaty. Unlike the Paris Agreement, which Trump also exited, the UNFCCC is the parent treaty underpinning all international climate negotiations. Withdrawal takes effect one year from notification.

Updated Jan 8