Seven organisations that represent over 400 investment funds sent a letter to the leaders of G20 nations calling on them "to sign the Paris Agreement on April 22nd at the United Nations in New York."
"We believe that the Paris Agreement is an historic breakthrough that delivered an unequivocal signal for investors to shift assets towards the low-carbon economy," it says.
Most large banks and financial services companies are represented in the letter, including American giants like Blackrock, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as well as Britain's Aviva, HSBC and RBS. The firms manage over USD 24 trillion (21 trillion euros) in assets.
The historic accord calls for global warming to be stopped in its tracks at "well under two degrees Celsius" above pre-industrial levels.
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However, national commitments to slash greenhouse gases far fall short of that hugely ambitious goal, and how to close the remaining emissions gap has yet to be worked out.
Among the 193 member states of the United Nations, 147 have already committed to signing the Paris Agreement, according to French Environment Minister Segolene Royal.