The Latest: US climate skeptic shreds copy of Paris deal

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) - The Latest on U.N. climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

An American climate change skeptic has shredded a copy of the Paris Agreement on global warming at the U.N. climate conference.

Marc Morano, who runs a climate skeptic website, was led away by security guards after the stunt outside the media center in Marrakech.

Morano put the document in a paper shredder and said that's what will happen to the Paris deal once Trump takes office.

Wearing a red Trump hat, he said "the delegates here seem to be in deep denial about President-elect Trump's policies."

As security guards led him away, he said "we will not be silenced."

Morano is a former aide to Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, one of the most vocal climate skeptics in U.S. Congress.

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4:15 p.m.

Seemingly unfazed by President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to yank the U.S. out of the Paris pact on global warming, a Chinese delegate says he expects the new administration to stay committed to the deal.

"We have to expect they will take a right and smart decision," Liu Zhenmin, the deputy leader of China's delegation, told reporters at U.N. climate talks.

The U.S.-China partnership on climate change forged by Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping paved the way for the Paris deal to come together after years of mutual distrust.

Liu said he expects that cooperation to continue under the next administration, even though Trump pledged during the campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal and withdraw U.S. contributions to U.N. global warming programs.

"I think we have to wait and see," Liu said. "We hope that the U.S. will continue to play a role in the climate change process."

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3:25 p.m.

Over 300 U.S. businesses have signed a statement calling on President-elect Donald Trump to support the Paris Agreement on climate change - including General Mills, eBay, Intel, Unilever, and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies.

Their statement reads "implementing the Paris Agreement will enable and encourage businesses and investors to turn the billions of dollars in existing low-carbon investments into the trillions of dollars the world needs to bring clean energy and prosperity to all."

The statement is addressed to Trump, President Barack Obama and members of Congress. It calls on elected U.S. officials to maintain the country's policy and financial commitments to lower carbon emissions.

Lara Birkes, chief sustainability officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, says "the Paris Agreement was a vital step forward, but its power is in our collective action."

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1:55 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says failing to fight climate change would be a "moral failure, a betrayal of devastating consequences."

With 2016 on track to be the hottest year on record, Kerry said the impacts of global warming are so evident that "at some point, even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening."

Kerry was speaking Wednesday at a U.N. climate conference in Marrakech. He also says that he doesn't think U.S. emissions reduction pledges "can or will be reversed" because of the market mechanisms in play.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called global warming a "hoax."

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1:30 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says an "overwhelming majority" of Americans know that climate change is happening and want the U.S. to honor its commitments under the Paris climate agreement.

Speaking Wednesday at a U.N. climate conference in Marrakech, Kerry praised the Paris deal as a framework that is "built to last."

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called global warming a "hoax" and pledged during the campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal aimed at fighting climate change.

Kerry, however, says he doesn't think U.S. emissions reduction pledges "can or will be reversed" because of the market mechanisms in play.