The chief executives of the world’s largest tech firms have rallied against US President Donald Trump, after he pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Trump’s decision not to join other countries in signing up to the agreement attracted controversy from around the world last week, leading to the resignation of a member of Trump’s business panel. Elon Musk announced his decision in a tweet on Thursday:
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017
The CEOs of major Silicon Valley companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, have pledged to try and meet the agreements notwithstanding Trump’s decision. The President and chief legal officer of Microsoft, Brad Smith, said:
We’re disappointed with the decision to exit the Paris Agreement. Microsoft remains committed to doing our part to achieve its goals.
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) June 1, 2017
The US tech industry has attracted criticism in the past for its attitude to climate change, with many environmentalists focusing on the energy usage of their data centres. However, many large firms have remained committed to improving their carbon footprint; Google is on track to hit its own goal of offsetting 100 percent of its data centres’ energy use against renewable power, and Apple has confirmed that 96 percent of its energy comes from renewable sources .
According to Canalys analyst Matthew Ball, Trump’s decision not to enter the Climate Change agreement comes as a blow to these tech firms:
“A lot of these firms have already invested in renewables and [leaving the Paris deal] counters what they’re currently invested in,” he explained.