Nike is among global business giants pledging to use renewable energy

The Climate Group organisation announced that on Wednesday several major US companies, among them Walmart, Starbucks and Nike, have pledged to use 100% renewable energy in the long term, as part of the worldwide effort against climate change.

Not-for-profit organisation Climate Group announced these latest undertakings during a campaign that took place this week in New York, aimed at stimulating the attempts to fight global warming, a few weeks before the world climate conference in Paris.

The organisation claimed that the initiative, called RE100, has already secured the support of 36 major companies. However, no timeline was set for the companies which pledged to go the renewable route, and the consequences of any failure to fulfil such pledges haven't been spelled out.

US consumer goods giants Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, and powerful banking group Goldman Sachs, have also joined the initiative, following in the wake of food companies Mars and Nestlé, of Ikea, H&M, Philips and Indian software manufacturer Infosys.

The Paris climate conference (COP21) will bring together representatives from 195 countries at Bourget, on the city's outskirts, from 30th November to 11th December. The objective is to negotiate, under UN patronage, a worldwide agreement to limit global warming to 2° C compared to pre-industrial era temperatures.