In a move mirroring his actions during the previous Trump administration, billionaire Michael Bloomberg has announced his foundation will provide funding to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) following President Donald Trump’s second withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, Al Jazeera reports.
The announcement, made on Thursday, comes after President Trump signed an executive order on Monday, just days after taking office, to remove the US from the landmark climate accord and halt all international climate financial commitments. This decision effectively leaves a significant funding gap for the UNFCCC, which operates with a projected budget of $96.5 million for 2024-2025. The US typically contributes 22% of the body’s budget.
Bloomberg, who also serves as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said the intervention was necessary to ensure the UNFCCC remains fully operational despite the US’s withdrawal.
“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.
This marks the second time Bloomberg has stepped in to fill the financial void created by a US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. In 2017, after President Trump’s initial pullout, Bloomberg pledged up to $15 million to support the UNFCCC. He also launched “America’s Pledge,” an initiative to track non-federal climate commitments in the US, ensuring the world could still monitor progress as if the US was a fully committed participant.
The UNFCCC’s executive secretary, Simon Stiell, criticized President Trump’s decision, calling it a “lost opportunity” for US clean energy businesses, saying it would only shift “vast wealth to competitor economies” while exacerbating climate-related disasters.
Similarly, European Commissioner for Climate Wopke Hoekstra described Trump’s withdrawal as “a truly unfortunate development” for both the US and the global community.
Bloomberg’s move highlights the ongoing commitment from non-federal actors in the US to address climate change, despite a federal government that is again pulling back from international cooperation on the issue. Bloomberg had previously sought the Democratic nomination for US president in 2019 but ended his campaign four months later.
