By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy arm said on Thursday it will provide funding to help cover the U.S. contribution to the U.N. climate body’s budget, filling a gap left by President Donald Trump.
The new Republican president announced after taking office on Monday that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and end the country’s international climate funding. Trump had also withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris deal in his first 2017-2021 White House term.
Organizations
Bloomberg is a media billionaire who also serves as a U.N. special envoy on climate change.
“Bloomberg Philanthropies and other U.S. climate funders will ensure the United States meets its global climate obligations,” the organization said in a statement, adding this included covering the amount the U.S. owes each year to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Bloomberg Philanthropies did not give details of the amounts of funding or who the other climate funders are.
The UNFCCC is the U.N.’s leading climate body. It runs annual climate negotiations among nearly 200 countries and helps implement the agreements that are made in these talks – the biggest of which is the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Michael Bloomberg also pledged to work with states, cities and companies to ensure that the U.S. stayed on track with its global climate obligations.
“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,” he said in the statement.
The U.S. is responsible for funding around 21% of the UNFCCC’s core budget. Last year, it paid the UNFCCC a 7.2 million euro ($7.4 million) required contribution for 2024, and also paid off a 3.4 million euro arrears for missed contributions over 2010-2023.
A Reuters analysis of UNFCCC documents last year found the U.N. body is experiencing a severe budget shortfall, which diplomats said had begun to disrupt parts of the world’s climate dialogue.
“We deeply appreciate the generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the leadership shown by Mike Bloomberg,” U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said in a statement.
Linda Kalcher, executive director at think-tank Strategic Perspectives, said Bloomberg’s move demonstrated a willingness – also shared by some U.S. states – to step up and try to fill the gap left by the U.S. withdrawal from international climate cooperation.
“This is where the other U.S. actors come in. I can foresee that a lot of interaction will happen again with the U.S. businesses and states that want to continue,” said Kalcher, who is also a former climate adviser to the U.N. Secretary-General.
While the UN climate body’s core budget is formed of contributions from governments, other parts of its budget can accept contributions from philanthropies and other organizations.
Bloomberg Philanthropies already contributed $4.5 million to the UNFCCC last year, according to U.N. public documents reviewed by Reuters.
The UNFCCC’s main budget lines total 240 million euros for 2024-2025, with about half of that expected to be allocated for this year.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Frances Kerry and Kate Abnett)
