Captains of industry, corporations and business groups distanced themselves from the White House on Thursday, as many expressed frustration with President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

The reactions from across the business world -- including oil producers, the tech sector and finance -- stood apart from Trump's portrayal of the decision as a needed corrective to rules that could stymie commerce.

Tesla founder Elon Musk confirmed he would quit White House advisory councils on business in protest.

"Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk wrote on Twitter shortly after Trump's announcement.

Disney chief Robert Iger followed suit, saying he was resigning from the panels "as a matter of principle."

Other tech and industrial sector representatives expressed frustration with the White House's decision and pledged to continue working to combat global warming.

"Disappointed with today's decision on the Paris Agreement," Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, wrote on Twitter. "Industry must now lead and not depend on government."

The Information Technology Industry Council was equally scathing.

"This is clearly disappointing, and a setback for America's leadership in the world," ITI President Dean Garfield said in a statement.

"Despite this, the tech industry's determination to innovate and problem-solve for the threats posed by climate change and generate clean energy opportunities that create jobs and grow our economy remains unchanged."

In his first ever tweet, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein called the decision a "setback" for the environment and for US global leadership.

The statement created clashing appearances, with several former Goldman bankers having taken on important roles in the administration, including former Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, who was present for Trump's announcement in the White House Rose Garden.

- Big oil opposed -

Oil supermajors ExxonMobil and Chevron reiterated their support for the endangered agreement, while automaker General Motors said the White House's decision would not lessen its resolve on the climate.

"GM will not waver from our commitment to the environment and our position on climate change has not changed," the company said in a statement.

"International agreements aside, we remain committed to creating a better environment."

Chevron spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said her company "supports continuing with the Paris Agreement as it offers a first step towards a global framework."

The accord aligns with the company's own policy on carbon emissions, she said.

An Exxon spokesman said the 2015 accord was "critical" given the rising emissions from India and China.

"It's the first major international accord to address climate change that includes emissions reduction pledges from both developed and developing economies," he told AFP.

"We believe that the United States is well positioned to compete within the framework of the Paris agreement."

The US Chamber of Commerce, a business lobby that had long criticized the prior Obama administration's energy policies, said had it had not taken a position on the Paris Agreement but favored policies that both promoted energy production and protected the environment.

"America should choose a path for an energy future that is achievable, affordable and most importantly meaningful," the organization said in a statement.

Matt Sonnesyn, vice president of the Business Roundtable, which includes the heads of major US corporations, said the private sector was part of the solution to climate change.

"Business Roundtable CEOs have long held the view that the consequences of climate change are potentially serious and far-reaching," Sonnesyn said.

On Wednesday, a group of major US companies including Apple, Facebook, Gap, Google and Unilever signed off on a plea for the US to keep participating in the climate deal.

"Dear President Trump, as some of the largest companies based or operating in the United States, we strongly urge you to keep the United States in the Paris Agreement," the letter read.

EU, China grab spotlight in climate fight after US quits Paris deal
Brussels (AFP) June 2, 2017 - Dismayed EU and Chinese leaders meet Friday at a Brussels summit in a bid to fill a void in the global push to fight climate change left by the US pullout from the Paris pact.

In a potentially dramatic shift in diplomatic roles, the European Union now aims to join heavyweight China in trying to galvanise the world into implementing the landmark 2015 agreement -- but minus the planet's second biggest carbon polluter.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are vowing to forge ahead with the Paris agreement without the US when they meet in Brussels Friday morning.

Juncker denounced as "seriously wrong" US President Donald Trump's shock announcement Thursday to pull out of the deal that his predecessor Barack Obama and Chinese leaders had been instrumental in brokering.

Echoing earlier remarks from his boss, EU commissioner for climate action and energy, Miguel Arias Canete, pledged continued "global leadership" on climate change.

Trump's "announcement has galvanised us rather than weakened us, and this vacuum will be filled by new broad committed leadership," Canete said.

"Europe and its strong partners all around the world are ready to lead the way," the Spanish commissioner said on the eve of the summit.

In talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday, Li said it was in China's own interest to press ahead "steadfastly" with the Paris deal, and urged other countries to do likewise.

China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has been investing billions in clean energy infrastructure, as its leaders battle to clear up the notorious choking pollution enveloping its biggest cities, including Beijing.

China and the US, the second biggest polluter, are together responsible for some 40 percent of the world's emissions and experts had warned that it is vital for both to remain in the Paris agreement if it is to have any chance of succeeding.

But Canete said the EU will work with existing partners and forge new alliances, including with the world's largest economies as well as the many US citizens, businesses and communities that support the Paris agreement.

- 'Significantly intensify' -

The Paris agreement commits signatories to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, which is blamed for melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and more violent weather events.

They vowed steps to keep the worldwide rise in temperatures "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times and to "pursue efforts" to hold the increase under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Juncker has noted that it would take three or four years to exit the Paris deal, and revealed that world leaders had tried in vain to explain that to Trump at the G7 summit a week ago.

A draft joint summit statement seen by AFP said the EU and Chinese leaders will stress "their highest political commitment" into implementing all aspects of the Paris deal.

"The EU and China consider the Paris Agreement as an historic achievement further accelerating the irreversible global low greenhouse gas emission and climate resilient development," the nine-page draft said.

They vow to "significantly intensify" their political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation on climate change and clean energy to help the world shift to an economy based on low greenhouse gas emissions.

Hoping to make the climate fight a "main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including economic ties, the two underlined that their cooperation will fuel job creation, investments and economic growth, the statement said.

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