The Americans definitely cannot count on their new climate-sceptic government to engage in the ecological transition. After Donald Trump’s announcement of a new withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement, American billionaire Michael Bloomberg decided to commit on Thursday January 23 to contributing, in place of the government, to international climate finance. The philanthropic businessman and former mayor of New York, now United Nations special envoy on climate, announced that he would compensate for the cessation of American funding to the UN body in charge of climate, as he did during Donald Trump’s first term.
The United States contributes more than 20% of the budget to the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change, whose headquarters is in Bonn, Germany, and under whose aegis the COPs are organized each year. The operating costs of this organization have been estimated at 88.4 million euros for the years 2024 and 2025. The association “Bloomberg Philanthropies and other U.S. climate funders will ensure the United States meets its global climate obligations following the federal government’s intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement to the second time »assured the businessman in a press release. Or 16 million euros.
Vital contributions
Concluded under the aegis of the United Nations almost ten years ago, this agreement brings together almost all the states of the world and aims to keep global warming below a certain threshold by considerably reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital to enable the UN Climate Change Secretariat to help countries meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement »greeted the head of the UN Climate, Simon Stiell.
-When the first American withdrawal from the United States was announced in 2017, Michael Bloomberg had already committed to paying up to 15 million dollars to support the branch of the UN working on ecological transition, and had launched, with former California Governor Jerry Brown, the initiative America’s Pledge which brings together local authorities and American companies committed to the climate.
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