President Barack Obama and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates are starting a multibillion-dollar effort to speed clean-energy research. Details are expected to be announced today as part of the Paris climate change talks aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The 20 countries that have signed on to Mission Innovation will pledge to double their investments in clean-energy research and development during the next five years. The U.S. spends more than $5 billion a year.

The participating countries, which generate about 75 percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions from the electricity sector, include China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and France.

Obama and Gates are expected to join world leaders and tech giants to announce the program, which aims to support new technologies and will tap public and private support.

Brian Deese, a senior White House adviser who specializes in climate issues, said the initiative “should help to send a strong signal that the world is committed to helping to try to mobilize the resources necessary to ensure that countries around the world can deploy clean-energy solutions in cost-effective ways.”