Business world unites against Trump's dumping of Paris deal

"President [Donald] Trump has achieved the impossible – uniting Goldman Sachs, Bernie Sanders, Shell Oil and Greenpeace," the BBC's American correspondent James Cook wrote on Twitter.

Cook's words reflect the wave of negative reaction against Trump's announcement that he will pull the US out of the historic climate change deal agreed in Paris in December.

The vast majority of business leaders seem to be against the decision.

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"Under the deal, the US, which accounts for about 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, had committed to a 26 per cent to 28 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2025," says the BBC.

"The US also promised $3bn (£2.3bn) in aid to a United Nations fund to help poorer countries to tackle climate change problems."

Trump, in comments reported by the Financial Times, said he "cannot in good conscience support a deal that punishes the US". The American President claims it would cost as many as 2.7 million American jobs.

"We don't want other leaders and other countries laughing at us any more and they won't be."

Business leaders are dismayed that Trump's decision to pull out of the deal, which has been signed by 147 countries including all the major industrialised nations, will diminish America's position in the world and reduce innovation, says Sky News.

Goldman Sachs's chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said: "Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the US's leadership position in the world."

"Other major companies, including Morgan Stanley, Unilever, Intel and big tech firms, such as Apple, had opposed withdrawal, saying it would have spurred energy innovation in the US, among other benefits," says the BBC.

The Daily Telegraph adds that even oil firms like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell have spoken out against Trump's decision.

Investors are taking a different view, however. Shares in ExxonMobil and Chevron rose on Thursday in New York as Wall Street hit a new record. This was prompted by positive wage growth figures in the US.

Another sector – coal – is outwardly supportive, too.

Paul Bailey, the president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a coal lobbying organisation, said: "We support President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

"Meeting [former] President Obama's goal would have led to more regulations, higher energy prices and dependence on less reliable energy sources."