JPMorgan’s Dimon says he disagrees with Trump’s Paris climate accord withdrawal

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a member of Donald Trump’s business advisory council, said he disagrees with the US president’s plan to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord.

Still, Dimon signalled he won’t follow Tesla Inc’s chief executive Elon Musk and Walt Disney’s CEO Bob Iger in quitting the council, which provides the president with advice on everything from tax reforms to employment and business policies.

“I absolutely disagree with the Administration on this issue, but we have a responsibility to engage our elected officials to work constructively and advocate for policies that improve people’s lives and protect our environment,” Dimon said in an emailed statement.

Trump said overnight he would withdraw the US from the global climate accord, saying it favours countries like China and India at the expense of American workers. He had campaigned on a pledge to exit the landmark accord that was one of the signature achievements of his predecessor Barack Obama, calling the agreement a “hoax.”

“We are getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal, and if we can, that’s great,” Trump said in televised remarks on Thursday. “And if we can’t, that’s fine.”

While the withdrawal process will take years to unfold -- the earliest the US can extricate itself is in November 2020 -- Trump’s plan immediately drew condemnation from European allies and the captains of American industry.

Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Dimon’s competitor bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said on Twitter that Trump’s decision was a “setback for the environment and for the US’s leadership position in the world.”

General Electric’s CEO Jeff Immelt tweeted his disappointment with the decision. “Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government,” he tweeted.

Tesla’s Musk said withdrawal from the accord was “not good for America or the world,” and announced he’s quitting Trump’s council, as did Disney’s Iger.

That makes three members who have withdrawn from the task of providing advice to Trump.

In February, Uber Technologies Inc’s CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick withdrew from the council, responding to the blowback from drivers and Uber riders who criticised Trump’s executive order on immigration.

Besides Dimon, the other members who remain on Trump’s business advisory council include Blackstone Group LP’s CEO Stephen Schwarzman, PepsiCo’s CEO Indra Nooyi and General Motors Corp’s CEO Mary Barra.