More than 70 companies, including NRG Energy, EDF Renewables and Rio Tinto have added their names to a list of companies committing to make significant cuts in CO2 emissions, the White House said today.
With the new additions, the White House-led initiative has pledges from 154 companies with a combined $7 trillion in market capitalization. Executives from some of the companies are also joining a new multi-billion-dollar fund to invest in clean energy led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The companies heave each made separate pledges to cut emissions, ranging from NRG's target of a 90pc cut from 2014 levels by 2050 to Rio Tinto's commitment to set a new carbon-intensity target after achieving an 18pc reduction from a 2008 baseline last year.
Among the other companies that have signed on to the White House-led initiative are technology and retail giants such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP and Walmart. The companies that have made pledges have operations in all 50 US states, the White House said.
President Barack Obama says he hopes such commitments will foster support for global climate action.
"Nobody expected more than 150 of America's biggest companies would pledge their support to an ambitious Paris outcome, or that a couple dozen of the world's wealthiest private citizens would pledge to invest unprecedented resources to bring clean energy technologies to market faster," Obama said today before leaving Paris, which is hosting UN climate talks through 11 December.
Gates and a group of nearly 30 investors yesterday launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, which will invest in low-carbon energy technologies. In conjunction with the launch, 20 countries, including the US, China and India, said they would double public funding for renewable energy research and development by 2020.
A significant number of executives from US companies plan to travel to Paris over the next two weeks to show their support for the negotiations. Executives from NRG, Calpine, Pacific Gas & Electric, SunEdison and SolarCity will join a delegation being led by California governor Jerry Brown (D) and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer.
"This delegation will leverage the successes of the California model to make the powerful economic case for a strong agreement to address climate change," said Steyer, who is also a member of the Gates-led fund.
