World urges Donald Trump not to dump Paris climate agreement

World leaders, businesses, investors, scientists and development charities have joined in urging Donald Trump not to withdraw the US from the Paris climate change agreement.
The US president is due to announce his decision at 3pm ET on Thursday and is expected to pull the world’s largest economy, and second greatest polluter, from the global accord agreed unanimously by almost 200 nations in 2015.
The agreement to fight global warming is based on voluntary pledges to cut greenhouse emissions but Trump has argued this could damage the US economy. However, a huge range of US business leaders argue the opposite, saying the fast-growing green economy is an opportunity for the US.
Twenty-five leading companies, including Apple, Facebook, Google, Levi Strauss and Unilever, are running an advert in the US media on Thursday, urging Trump not to abandon the Paris deal. They say the accord’s “stable and practical framework” creates jobs and is good for business.

More than 1,000 other US companies and investors, including DuPont, eBay and Nike, have also backed the Paris deal, saying: “Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk.” The Tesla boss, Elon Musk, said he had urged Trump to back Paris and would resign from two presidential advisory bodies he serves on.
World leaders also stated their commitment to the Paris deal, with China’s premier Li Keqiang saying on Thursday that fighting climate change was a “global consensus” and an “international responsibility”. The EU and China have forged a new alliance on climate change, stating on Wednesday that the Paris deal had their “highest political commitment”.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted at Trump on Thursday: “Please don’t change the (political) climate for the worse.” Trump was isolated on the climate issue at a recent G7 summit in Italy.
Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister of Australia, which has in the past opposed climate action, said the country would remain steadfast in its support for the Paris agreement. Russia has said it attaches “great significance” to the Paris deal. On Tuesday the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned that if Trump withdrew from the Paris deal there could be negative economic, security and societal consequences for the US.