ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods has advised President-elect Donald Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, aimed at reducing climate-warming emissions.
Speaking at the annual U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, known as COP29, Woods described international climate negotiations as valuable opportunities for Trump to adopt pragmatic policies.
“We need a global system for managing global emissions,” Woods told The New York Times. “Trump and his administration have discussed bringing common sense back to government. I believe he could apply the same approach here.”
Earlier on Tuesday, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Woods reiterated his appeal to Trump, saying: “I don’t think the stops and starts are good for businesses. It’s extremely inefficient and creates a lot of uncertainty.”
Woods argued that a U.S. exit from the 2015 agreement—something Trump has proposed to do again after first withdrawing in 2017—would create global confusion around climate efforts.
ExxonMobil, the largest U.S.-based oil and gas company, has supported the Paris Agreement since 2015. In 2017, the company urged Trump not to withdraw from the treaty, with Woods personally attending two climate meetings.
The Exxon chief has also called for global standards to measure carbon dioxide emissions as a foundation for government regulations and has supported the Inflation Reduction Act—a law Trump has criticized—for encouraging investment in cleaner energy without mandating specific technologies.
In 2020, the U.S. officially exited the Paris Climate Accord, a move initiated by Trump during his first term. This landmark decision made the U.S. the only country to withdraw from the agreement.
In a statement to Newsweek, an ExxonMobil spokesperson said: “A second U.S. exit from the Paris climate agreement would have profound implications for the country’s efforts to reduce its own emissions and for global efforts to combat climate change.”
“We advocate for policy that accounts for security, affordability, reliability and environmental stewardship – not drastic changes that could hinder the progress being made today,” the spokesperson added.
ExxonMobil’s comments come amid uncertainty for climate advocates, as Trump has announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, reverse many of the Biden administration’s key climate initiatives—including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $375 billion for climate action—and expand drilling and oil production. He has also dismissed emissions regulations as part of a “green new scam.”
During Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021, many environmental regulations were rolled back, only to be reinstated by the Biden administration. Now, Trump’s incoming administration has indicated plans to reverse Biden’s changes. On Monday, Trump appointed former New York Representative Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, where he is expected to initiate a lengthy process of repealing and replacing various environmental standards set during Biden’s tenure.
Responding to these reports, combative yet “bitterly disappointed” climate adviser John Podesta, America’s top climate negotiator, said on Monday in Baku that no matter what kind of U-turn Trump might take on climate change, America’s clean energy economy will not revert to a “dirty” past.
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