Some of the industry’s largest vendors and operators joined an initiative backed by United Nations (UN) focussed on lowering emissions, adding momentum to a similar move by more than 50 companies in the sector last week.

A joint statement from three UN-affiliated organisations revealed 87 companies from a wide range of sectors pledged to set climate targets for their businesses. The initiative’s ultimate aim is to restrict global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while achieving zero net emissions no later than 2050.

Among the organisations newly unveiled as backers are: Orange; America Movil; Bharti Airtel; Reliance Jio; Deutsche Telekom; Ericsson; and Nokia. They join BT; Singtel; Telefonica; Telia; TDC; and Vodafone Group, which made the pledge earlier this year.

The announcement was made by the UN Global Compact, Science Based Targets Initiative and We Mean Business coalition, and came ahead of the Climate Action Summit, which opens in New York today (23 September) hosted by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

Last week more than 50 mobile operators committed to regular disclosure of environmental impact assessments for their businesses as part of a GSMA-led initiative. A number of companies in the sector are already heavily involved in reducing their carbon emissions with a range of initiatives underway.