Many of America's biggest corporations including Apple andWal-Mart Stores, are sticking by their pledges to fight climatechange even as President Donald Trump guts his predecessor'senvironmental policies.

Companies say their pledges, coordinated by the Obamaadministration, reflect their push to cut energy costs, head offactivist pressure and address a risk to their bottom line in thedecades to come.

“This work is embedded in our business,” Wal-Mart spokesmanKevin Gardner said by email. It's “good for the business, ourshareholders and customers; if ultimately we are able to positivelyimpact the environment in the process, that's a win too.”

Wal-Mart was one of 81 companies that promised to reduceemissions in the run up to the 2015 Paris global climatenegotiations. The company upped its targets last November, sayingit would get half its power from renewable sources by2025.

Trump signed an order Tuesday that tells the EnvironmentalProtection Agency to reconsider former President Barack Obama'sclimate rules, and rescinds a series of orders Obama issued toembed consideration of climate change in government actions fromwhere to lease buildings to whether to allow oil pipelines to bebuilt.

“Most big companies in the U.S. recognize that climate change isreal,” said Geoffrey M. Heal, a professor at Columbia BusinessSchool. “They need to move ahead on the climate change front nomatter what Trump's government does.”

Business's biggest lobbying force supports Trump on this issue.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomed Trump's order calling thatshift “vital to stimulating economic growth.” The group argues thatObama's regulations held back economic growth, preventing businessowners from constructing needed pipelines, roads and otherinfrastructure. It also warned that the climate push would lead toa jump in energy prices.

But many of the group's members and other corporate titanssupported Obama's Clean Power Plan, or have set their own goals.Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer-maker, alsoannounced Tuesday that it would get 100% of its electricity fromrenewable sources by 2025. Nearly 90 companies have made similarpledges, according to the Sierra Club.

One of them is Mars Inc., the maker of M&M's. The companycommitted to eliminating its emissions entirely by 2040. AndyPharoah, vice president of corporate affairs, said that Mars wouldkeep that commitment, and it's “disappointed the administration hasdecided to roll back climate regulations.”

'American competitiveness'

Technology companies including Apple, Amazon.com, Alphabet'sGoogle and Microsoft also expressed their support for Obama'spolicies.

“We believe that strong clean energy and climate policies, likethe Clean Power Plan, can make renewable energy supplies morerobust and address the serious threat of climate change while alsosupporting American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth,”the companies said in a joint statement after Trump's order wassigned.

Other companies, while stopping short of criticizing the Trumpadministration, said they would keep pursuing lower emissions intheir own operations. Procter & Gamble, Nestle Inc., Ikea,Levi Strauss & Co. and Best Buy Co., which all signed the 2015pledge organized by the Obama administration, said they stillintended to honor their commitments.

“We will continue to integrate sustainability into our businesspractices, operations, innovation, brand building and culture,”Damon Jones, a spokesman for Procter & Gamble said.

Many energy businesses welcomed Trump's rollback. TheIndependent Petroleum Association of America, which represents oiland natural gas producers, joined the Chamber of Commerce inpraising his move. So did the National Federation of IndependentBusiness, which challenged the Clean Power Plan in court.

“People are going to freeze in the dark because of thedestruction of the reliable electric power grid under Obama and theDemocrats,” Robert Murray, the president and CEO of coal-miningcompany Murray Energy Corp. said in an interview. “Mr. Trump isdoing the right things.”

Some environmental groups cautioned that action from the privatesector, wasn't enough to make up for the pullback in federalpolicy.

“Policy is going to be required to get us where we need to be,”said Karen Palmer, research director at Resources for theFuture.

Bloomberg News

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.