 "US: 81 companies sign pledge on climate change")
The White House said that a total of 81 companies have signed a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the country's efforts to combat climate change.
Among the companies signing the American Business Act (ABA) on climate pledge are Coca-Cola, Apple, Intel, IBM and Walmart, Xinhua reported.
The White House said in a statement on Monday that these companies have operations in all 50 US states, employing more than nine million people and representing more than $3 trillion in annual revenue, with a combined market capitalisation of over $5 trillion.
While voicing expectation for a strong outcome from the upcoming UN climate talks in Paris in December, the companies agree to reduce their emissions, increase low-carbon investments, deploy more clean energy, in addition to other actions.
The White House launched the ABA on Climate Pledge in July, with 13 US companies such as Microsoft committing a total of $140 billion in new low-carbon investments and more than 1,600 megawatts of new renewable energy at that time.
An independent consortium of long-term investors, created in a White House clean energy investment summit in June, on Monday, also announced its first round of investments totalling $1.2 billion through an "aligned intermediary", which will be formally launched and branded in mid-2016.
