The move by billionaire Mike Bloomberg comes in response to President Donald Trump’s move to pull funding for U.N. climate programs.
Billionaire and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg will increase his financial support for the United Nations climate body, anticipating the Trump administration’s expected funding cuts.
The secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) assists with running annual global climate conferences. Nations have also tasked it with monitoring progress on lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The organization’s core budget comes from its nearly 200 member countries.
The U.S., as the world’s largest economy, pays the largest dues. But President Donald Trump is expected to end those payments at a time when the U.N. climate secretariat has expressed concern about lacking the money to address a growing list of duties demanded by member states.
In a public statement released after POLITICO published this story, Bloomberg Philanthropies confirmed Bloomberg would be meeting the U.S. financial obligations to the convention.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell welcomed the move, calling such contributions « vital » to helping the organization « support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement and advancing a low-emission, resilient, and safer future for all. »
Bloomberg also announced a relaunch of a coalition of city, state and corporate leaders, which initially arose in Trump’s first term. The group committed to using its powers to uphold the U.S. promise to lower its greenhouse gas emissions.
“From 2017 to 2020, during a period of federal inaction, cities, states, businesses, and the public rose to the challenge to uphold our nation’s commitments—and now, we are ready to do it again,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
The U.S. will remain a member of the UNFCCC, even though Trump announced Monday that he was withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which was struck under the auspices of the U.N. convention.
During Trump’s first term in office, the U.S. built up more than $8.3 million in arrears to the U.N. climate body. The Biden administration cleared the backlog last year.
Bloomberg Philanthropies stepped up its funding of the organization during Trump’s first term. The contributions continued through the Biden administration. Last year, it was the top non-state funder of the UNFCCC, donating $4.5 million.
