US CEOs urge Trump to stay in Paris agreement

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK

The CEOs of 10 major American companies urged use a television advertisement Wednesday to urge President Donald Trump to stay in the Paris climate agreement.

"We are writing to express our strong support for the United States remaining in the Paris Climate Agreement," it said.

"President Trump, stay in Paris and negotiate a better deal that creates jobs," according to the commercial that is also available on YouTube.

The advertisement was signed by the heads of 3M, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Proctor & Gamble, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, The Dow Chemical Company, Tesla, Citigroup and The Disney Company.

The Paris Agreement, which was spearheaded by former President Barack Obama and signed by 195 countries in April 2016, aims to fight climate change by reducing carbon emissions and limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius.

During his election campaign, however, Trump called global warming "a hoax" and promised to scrap the agreement and return jobs to the coal industry that is often an easy target for environmentalists.

"I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!," Trump said via Twitter on Wednesday.