Impact investing and business groups are roundly condemning President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The decision to make the U.S. one of the few nations not agreeing to reduce carbon emissions will not only hurt the environment, but also cost the country jobs, the groups say.
Trump said on Thursday he will try to negotiate an agreement that is fairer to the United States. The existing agreement hurts the American economy and American workers, the President said.
“The exit of the United States from the Paris Agreement is unequivocally the wrong decision,” Lisa Woll, CEO of US SIF, said in a statement. “It will harm the environment and damage the health and safety of the American people, our country’s international reputation, and progress towards a vibrant, innovative and low carbon economy.”
US SIF, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, is a coalition of organizations and firms supporting sustainable, responsible and impact investing with more than $3 trillion in assets under management or advisement.
“The United States is already paying a high economic price from the ravages of severe drought, wildfires and storms associated with increased atmospheric levels of carbon. This is not the time to retreat from the call to protect current and succeeding generations from the significant implications of further, unrestrained climate change and rising sea levels,” Woll said.
Shareholders concerned about climate risk filed 93 resolutions on the subject in 2016 and negotiated several commitments from target companies to disclose and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, according to US SIF.
Jens Peers, chief investment officer for sustainable equities and fixed income at Mirova, called the decision “not only irresponsible, but, frankly unacceptable and economically dangerous for the country President Trump wants to make great again.”
Mirova is a Natixis Asset Management subsidiary dedicated to responsible investment.
“However, there is some reprieve, as the immediate effect may be primarily psychological. The combination of improved and evolving technologies and the economic realities in energy generation and energy efficiency, combined with state regulation and individual and corporate reaction, will potentially reduce the cataclysmic negative impact,” Peers said.
“Many companies and individuals continue to invest in renewables and energy efficiency as it gives them more energy independence and access to affordable, relatively stable energy prices,” he added.