Major banks and companies vowed Tuesday to accelerate the move away from Earth-warming fossil fuels as world leaders met in Paris seeking to unlock new cash for the global economy's shift to greener energy.

Two years to the day since 195 nations sealed the Paris Agreement to avert worst-case-scenario climate change, the World Bank said it would stop financing oil and gas exploration and extraction -- about two percent of its portfolio now -- from 2019.

On the sidelines of a summit of some 60 leaders called by French President Emmanuel Macron, French insurer Axa said it would speed up its carbon sector divestment, pulling 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion) from companies which derive more than 30 percent of their revenues from coal.