Twenty countries, including India, the US and China, will today launch an initiative to double their clean energy research and development budget over the next five years as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.

The total amount of money being committed by these 20 countries -- under Mission Innovation -- amount to USD 20 billion, about half of which would come from the US, White House officials said.

A formal announcement of the initiative is expected later in the day at a meeting attended by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande along with other leaders from the private and public sector, a White House official told reporters before Obama left for Paris to attend the crucial climate change summit in Paris.

These additional resources will dramatically expand the new technologies that will define a future global power mix that is clean, affordable and reliable, the White House said.


"This is an effort designed to accelerate clean energy innovation and address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers with a special focus on the developing world in creating commercial opportunities for creating clean energy in developing countries," top Obama adviser Brian Deese told reporters.

Other participating countries include France, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the UAE and the UK. These 20 countries accounts for over 80 per cent of global clean energy R&D.