Decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Paris Agreement along with emphasising on America First policy has the potential to reshape norms and institutions related to international cooperation.
Impact of USA’s Withdrawal
- Shortage of Funds: US exit could leave institutions with fund crunch. E.g., During 2024-25, USA contributed 19% of WHO’s total revenue.
- Undermine Climate Actions: 2024 was recorded as hottest year and USA stands as the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter behind China.
Major Global Institutions and Challenges Faced by them
- United Nations: United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the most powerful organisation within the UN has not witnessed an enlargement of its membership to include members from the developing countries.
- World Health Organisation: Institutional deficiencies along with political bias and partiality alleged during COVID pandemic.
- World Trade Organisation: There exists broad disagreements over matters like agricultural subsidies, trade barriers, emerging domains like E-commerce, Trade wars between US and China, etc.
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1994): The recent Conference of Parties-29 (Azerbaijan) agreed to only USD 300 billion by 2035 against the demand of USD 1.3 trillion by developing countries.
Some reforms needed in Global Institutions
- Structural Reforms: Offering independent, responsive, and representative institutions with increased accountability, integrity and legitimacy.
- Greater Financing to Developing Countries: To fight poverty and tackle global challenges, including climate change.
- Others: Frameworks to deal with emerging challenges like cybersecurity, regional coordination, etc.
