Bloomberg LP founder, UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that Bloomberg Philanthropies, alongside other climate funders, will cover some of the U.S.’ key Paris Agreement obligations, including its funding for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the U.S.’ reporting commitments, following President Trump’s exit from the accord.The new pledge follows an executive order signed by Trump on the day of his inauguration earlier this week, ordering the U.S. to notify the UN of the U.S.’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the landmark multi-nation pact to combat climate change, with a primary goal is to limit the global temperature increase in this century to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to work toward limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees.The UNFCCC secretariat is the UN entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change, and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. A vast majority of countries have signed onto the agreement, and the U.S. is the only country to have withdrawn.Simon Stiell, United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary, said:
“We deeply appreciate the generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the leadership shown by Mike Bloomberg. While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital in enabling the UN Climate Change secretariat to support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement and a low-emission, resilient, and safer future for everyone.”
The executive order marks the second time that the U.S. has exited the agreement, following Trump’s withdrawal from the accord in his first term, and the new pledge also marks the second time Bloomberg committed to fill the resulting funding gap. At the time, Bloomberg and then-California Governor Jerry Brown launched America’s Pledge, an initiative aimed at annually aggregating and reporting non-federal climate commitments – detailing the emissions reduction progress of states, cities, businesses, and other non-federal actors – to help meet the U.S. reporting obligations under the Paris Agreement.In addition to renewing the commitment to fill the UNFCCC funding gap and support the U.S.’ Paris Agreement reporting obligations, Bloomberg also pledged to continue his support for “America Is All In,” a coalition of U.S. cities, states, businesses, and other subnational climate leaders working to meet the U.S.’ interim climate commitments, including the recently introduced target reduce emissions 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035.The 2035 goal was launched by President Biden in the last weeks of his term, with administration officials at the time expressing confidence in the ability to reach the target even in the face of the incoming Trump administration, driven by the investments already put in place over the past four years, and by action at the state and local levels.Bloomberg said:
“More and more Americans have had their lives torn apart by climate-fueled disasters, like the destructive fires raging in California. At the same time, the United States is experiencing the economic benefits of clean energy, as costs have fallen and jobs have grown in both red and blue states. The American people remain determined to continue the fight against the devastating effects of climate change.”
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