The Latest: UN environment chief: US will uphold Paris deal

GENEVA – The Latest on the U.N. report on climate change (all times local):

2 p.m.

The head of the U.N. environment program is predicting that the United States will live up to the Paris climate accord despite President Donald Trump's planned pullout.

UNEP executive director Erik Solheim says that's because "all the big American companies are dedicated to go in the green direction."

Solheim spoke Tuesday via videoconference from Nairobi to Geneva, where UNEP presented a new "Emissions Gap" report that gives a scientific assessment about how national efforts are affecting the greenhouse gas emission trend.

He said the No. 1 question he gets is: "What about Donald Trump?" and his reply is that corporate America is going greener "whatever happens in the White House."

"At the end of the day ... the private sector and business are now driving the agenda," he said.

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11:45 a.m.

The U.N.'s environment program says countries and industries need to do more to meet targets to trim emissions of greenhouse gases that experts say are contributing to global warming.

In its latest "Emissions Gap" report issued ahead of an important climate conference in Germany next week, the program takes aim at coal-fired electricity plants being built in developing economies and says investment in renewable energies will pay for itself — and even make money — over the long term.

Tuesday's report comes as U.N. officials are making a renewed push to maintain momentum generated by the Paris climate accord of 2015.

It aims to cap global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius (Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 compared to average world temperatures at the start of the industrial era.