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Donald Trump says he will withdraw US from Paris climate accord

Decision deals blow to worldwide efforts to slow global warming after hottest year on record

US President Donald Trump has said he will withdraw the US from the historic Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to slow global warming following the hottest year on record.

The decision was announced on Monday among a flurry of pro-fossil fuel policies after Trump took the oath of office with a promise to “drill, baby, drill” in pursuit of what he called “American energy dominance”.

“The president will unleash American energy by ending Biden’s policies of climate extremism,” the White House said.

The US’s exit from the 2015 Paris accord, which was signed by almost 200 countries, means the world’s largest historical polluter will again walk away from its commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Rachel Cleetus, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the US withdrawal was “a travesty” and “in clear defiance of scientific realities”.

The incoming administration also said it would declare an “energy emergency” as it touted measures to cut regulations on oil and gas companies and curb the build out of clean energy.

Trump said: “We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again — and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”

Trump has indicated he will scrap the role of national climate adviser, introduced by Biden, and replace it with an “energy tsar” tasked with slashing red tape for oil and gas producers. The role will be filled by former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum.

Last year was the first calendar year that average temperatures surpassed the 2015 Paris accord target of limiting warming since pre-industrial times to well under 2C and preferably to 1.5C.

The world is on track for a temperature rise of up to 2.9C above pre-industrial levels, according to a UN report.

The US is the only country to have left the Paris agreement — under the first Trump administration in 2017, in a process that took more than two years. But it rejoined under Biden in February 2021. Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, also threatened to pull out, but did not follow through.

The head of the UN climate change arm which oversees the Paris agreement, Simon Stiell, said on Monday: “The door remains open . . . and we welcome constructive engagement from all countries.”

The White House on Monday said it would also take steps to “end leasing to massive wind farms” which it said “degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers”.

Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris agreement, said the US decision to quit was “unfortunate” but the accord was “stronger than any single country’s politics and policies”.

Some experts said Trump’s moves to reverse Biden’s “green” policies would give an advantage to China, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries.

“China will be happy to wave in the rear-view mirror of one of its world-leading EVs, as US manufacturers hobble on,” said Tim Sahay, co-director of the net zero industrial policy lab of Johns Hopkins University.

The Biden administration raised the bar on US climate targets in its final month in office, setting a goal for a cut of economy-wide greenhouse gases of 61 per cent to 66 per cent by 2035 from 2005 levels.

At the last UN climate summit in Baku, Biden’s top climate adviser John Podesta conceded US efforts to tackle global warming “may be put on the back burner” under Trump’s White House, but sought to reassure US allies that this would not stop the shift to green energy and technology by business, states, cities and local authorities.

UK ministers poised to approve expansion of Gatwick airport

The government could also give the go-ahead to development of Luton to allow more passengers

Ministers are preparing to give the go-ahead to a major expansion of Gatwick, the UK’s second-largest airport, as part of a broader push to nurture economic growth.

The government is also keen to approve an expansion of Luton airport if concerns about noise pollution from passenger jets flying over rural areas can be addressed.

And chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to reaffirm her support for Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, to build a contentious third runway in a speech about economic growth later this month, according to officials. But such a project could be a long way off being realised.

Ministers are planning to unveil more proposals to aid growth. The UK economy expanded by 0.1 per cent in November, following 0.1 per cent contractions in both October and September, according to official data.

Investor fears about stagflation — when sluggish growth combines with persistent price pressures — contributed to a sharp rise in UK government borrowing costs at the start of the year, although gilt yields fell last week amid expectations of more interest rate cuts.

The expansion of Britain’s airports has long been a controversial issue, given jets contribute to noise and air pollution, as well as climate change, but two government decisions are expected soon.  

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander must decide by February 27 on Gatwick’s plan to bring its standby runway into regular use. 

The work is part of a £2.2bn project that would enable Gatwick to handle up to 75mn passengers a year by the late 2030s, up from the record 46.5mn who used the single-runway airport in 2019.

One person familiar with the government’s thinking said a go-ahead for the scheme was an “absolutely sure thing” given its economic benefits and relatively straightforward environmental challenges. 

Gatwick referred to a previous statement in which it said it had put forward a “strong” case for making best use of its existing infrastructure, while minimising noise and environmental impacts.

Alexander must rule by April 3 on Luton airport’s proposals to increase passenger numbers to 32mn each year, up from its current annual limit of 18mn.

Government insiders said Luton’s expansion was likely to be approved, but officials are working through how to address concerns about the extra noise impact over the Chiltern Hills, which are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. 

Alberto Martin, chief executive of Luton airport, said expansion of the facility “fully aligns with the government’s sustainable growth agenda by making best use of existing infrastructure”, and would create thousands of jobs.

Reeves said last July she wanted Heathrow to expand so long as it met certain environmental criteria, a stance that puts her at odds with energy secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

One government insider said Heathrow’s third runway remained a “chicken and egg” situation, with the company’s management refusing to commit to the project unless and until it received full backing from ministers. 

Labour has said it would allow Heathrow’s expansion if it passed four “tests” set by ministers relating to climate change, noise, air pollution and economic growth. 

But experts doubt Heathrow could pass all the tests even if there were rapid growth in the fledgling market for “sustainable aviation fuel” made from crops and other non fossil fuels.  

“There are live development consent orders on Luton and Gatwick but it’s worth mentioning there is no live proposal from Heathrow,” said one government official involved in the discussions.

Bloomberg reported Reeves could use her growth speech to announce some of the government’s key decisions on infrastructure projects, and that she could look favourably on a development consent order for a third runway at Heathrow.

Heathrow said growing the economy meant adding capacity at the airport. “That’s why we’re planning to unlock capacity by improving and upgrading our existing infrastructure, while also looking at potential options to deliver a third runway at Heathrow in line with strict tests on carbon, noise and air quality.”

Another transport project which is set to get the go-ahead from ministers in the coming months is the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing, a new highway and tunnel across the river to the east of London, according to officials. 

Reeves is expected to use a private finance model for the crossing, with investors securing returns in exchange for bankrolling the project.

A government spokesperson said Labour was determined to get the economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UK’s aviation sector.

“All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth . . . while remaining in line with existing environmental obligations,” they added.

Austrian lender to appeal against damages awarded to a company once owned by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International will book a provision in its fourth-quarter results after a Russian court ruled that its business in the country was liable for €2bn in damages over a legal battle with a company formerly owned by Oleg Deripaska.

The ruling relates to a complaint filed by Rasperia, a Russian investment company once held by the sanctioned oligarch, against Austrian construction company Strabag and its shareholders which include RBI’s affiliate in Lower Austria, following a failed asset swap.

In a statement on Monday evening, Vienna-based RBI said the Russian court had decided that Strabag and its “Austrian core shareholders” were liable to pay €2.04bn to Rasperia and that the verdict could be “enforced against [RBI’s Russian unit]’s assets”.

RBI said it would appeal against the verdict and also take legal action in Austria to mitigate damages by seeking enforcement against Rasperia there.

As a result, RBI said it would book a provision that would “reflect the amount awarded to Rasperia by the court minus the expected proceeds from enforcement of legal recourse against Rasperia’s assets in Austria”.

A person familiar with the matter said the size of the provision was still being evaluated by RBI. The bank is set to publish its fourth-quarter results on February 4.

The ruling represents yet another headache for RBI, which has come under increasing pressure from regulators and foreign governments to leave Russia, where it has continued to operate following President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

However, almost three years on from the attack, the Austrian lender remains the western bank with the largest presence in Russia.

Last year, the European Central Bank ordered RBI and other European banks still operating in Russia to accelerate efforts to wind down their businesses there if they were unable to sell them.

Rasperia’s lawsuit was filed in August after the company tried to swap its large stake in Strabag with RBI in return for control of RBI’s Russian subsidiary.

However, the transaction was abandoned last May following pressure from the US government. Rasperia continues to be associated with Deripaska, according to western security officials.

Deripaska was one of the first oligarchs close to Putin to be hit with punitive economic measures in Europe in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

RBI has shrunk its lending activity in Russia since the invasion but has raked in profits from its Russian division as rivals have pulled out. However, this money is trapped inside the country under Kremlin legislation and a sale of the unit will require presidential approval.

With morale at a low point, biotech and pharma CEOs are cautiously optimistic about the incoming administration

The past two years have been punishing for the biotech and pharma space.

As Wall Street chased the artificial-intelligence boom, drugmakers were left behind, with pharma stocks trading at a major discount to the broader market. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, meanwhile, was basically unchanged last year despite huge gains for innovation counterparts in the tech sector.

Politics hasn’t helped. After decades of wielding significant influence in Washington, the pharma lobby suffered a major blow when the Biden administration pushed through Medicare’s drug-price negotiation law.

Now as Donald Trump takes office, the industry is cautiously optimistic that its fortunes might finally begin to shift—or at least not get any worse. At last week’s annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, industry executives pointed to Trump’s promises to cut taxes and to crack down on pharmacy-benefit managers as evidence that his policies might benefit the industry as a whole.

While Trump’s victory and his decision to name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his top health official initially unsettled executives and investors, many are now warming up to the new administration. No one is betting that Trump will suddenly fall in love with big pharma. During his first administration he repeatedly railed against the industry and tried to pass a rule linking some Medicare drug prices to international drug prices. But at this point an unpredictable leader, some argue, is better than a predictably unfriendly one.

During a lunch with reporters in San Francisco, Pfizer PFE -0.72%decrease; red down pointing triangle Chief Executive Albert Bourla was particularly blunt, describing the previous administration as heavily influenced by progressive priorities on everything from taxes to antitrust. By contrast, Bourla noted that the Trump administration appears more inclined to address misaligned incentives for PBMs, which act as drug middlemen, rather than pursuing sweeping drug-pricing legislation.

“He doesn’t like, of course, that here people are paying a lot for their medicines compared to Germany,” said Bourla, who dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month. “But he appreciates that here there is the middleman that is inflating the out-of-pocket [cost] disproportionately.”

While Bourla’s optimism may reflect a degree of wishful thinking, it was widely shared by many at the conference. The relative optimism is grounded in a harsh reality: For the pharma industry, it is hard to imagine an administration more challenging than Biden’s. Just Friday, the Biden administration announced 15 additional drugs, including Ozempic/Wegovy, that will face Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Together, these drugs represent $41 billion in annual Medicare spending, with officials touting the potential for significant savings.

It isn’t clear whether the Trump administration will ease up on the IRA negotiation process, said Shawn Maree Bishop, a former top health adviser to the Senate Finance Committee. But members of the industry are hopeful that the White House could work with Congress to modify the IRA. For instance, noted Bishop, now a senior adviser at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the industry may be hoping for a pause in negotiations altogether or for changes to what they call the law’s “pill penalty,” a provision that requires small molecules to face negotiation four years sooner than biologics.

Concerns about the incoming administration remain, however, particularly given Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rhetoric on vaccines and drugs more broadly. But even on that front, the thinking in some corners is that Kennedy’s more extreme impulses could be somewhat tempered. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that two vaccine skeptics who had been advising RFK Jr. have been sidelined by Trump transition officials. Some believe he might be steered toward focusing on other issues, like food safety or fluoride, while more industry-friendly voices could play a larger role in shaping policy.

The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index isn’t exactly a screaming bargain at 14.6 times forward earnings, according to FactSet. But that is a discount to its five-year average of 15.2 times, and well below the S&P 500’s lofty 21.7 times. Trump’s policies are unpredictable on many fronts; at least in healthcare some pessimism is already priced in.

Deux fonds d’investissement bataillaient dans la dernière ligne droite du processus de cession, mais leurs offres ont été jugées insuffisantes.

Lumibird et son dirigeant Marc Le Flohic vont devoir changer leur fusil d’épaule. Comme nous l’avions révélé en novembre dernier, le spécialiste des technologies laser espérait céder son pôle dédié aux lasers médicaux. Un processus de vente, confié à JPMorgan, a abouti à un duel final entre deux fonds : EQT et Carlyle. Mais selon nos informations, ni le scandinave ni son homologue américain n’a présenté une offre suffisamment séduisante aux yeux du patron, toujours détenteur de 51 % du capital. L’un comme l’autre auraient proposé moins de 300 millions d’euros.

Initialement, ce champion européen de près d’un millier de salariés espérait obtenir de ce pôle spécialisé dans les équipements de diagnostic et de traitement pour l’ophtalmologie un prix proche de 350 millions d’euros. En 2023, le périmètre en question avait totalisé 102,8 millions d’euros de chiffre d’affaires pour 18,6 millions d’Ebitda (en croissance de plus de 8 % par rapport à 2022). Il restera donc, au moins à court terme, au sein de Lumibird, qui dispose aussi d’une division baptisée Lumibird Photonics, dont les lasers sont utilisés dans l’industrie, la défense et le spatial ou bien encore au sein du monde scientifique. Ce segment-là a pour sa part représenté 100,8 millions d’euros de chiffre d’affaires en 2023, pour un Ebitda de 15,9 millions.

Comme nous le précisions en novembre, la cession de l’activité médicale devait servir à racheter les parts des actionnaires minoritaires et, in fine, retirer Lumibird de la Bourse. « À ce stade, les fonds ont fait preuve d’un engouement mesuré. Lumibird évalue d’autres options pour parvenir à ses fins », estime un proche du dossier.

Contactée, la société précise seulement que le communiqué confirmant le « projet exploratoire de vente » du pôle « demeure toujours d’actualité ». JPMorgan n’a pas souhaité commenter.