After Donald Trump’s announcement of a new withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement, American billionaire Michael Bloomberg pledged Thursday to contribute, in place of the government, to international financing for the climate.
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 contributions 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, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, and under whose auspices the Climate 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.
Bloomberg Philanthropies and other U.S. climate funders will ensure the U.S. meets its global climate obligations following the federal government’s intention to withdraw from the deal from Paris for the second time,” assured the businessman in a press release.
-Concluded under the aegis of the United Nations almost ten years ago, this agreement brings together almost all the world’s states 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 pledged to contribute up to $15 million to support the UN Climate and launched, with former California governor Jerry Brown, the America’s Pledge initiative which brings together local authorities and American companies committed to the climate.
