Michael Bloomberg to commit millions to UN climate change program

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Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will commit up to $15 million in support of a United Nations program that helps countries implement their commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

Bloomberg, who was appointed the United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change by former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2014, said the pledge to support the operations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretariat aims to fill a “significant funding gap that comes as a result of President Donald Trump’s announced withdrawal from the Paris agreement,” according to a statement by Bloomberg Philanthropies, a charity founded by Bloomberg.

“Americans are not walking away from the Paris climate agreement,” Bloomberg said in the statement. “Just the opposite — we are forging ahead. Mayors, governors and business leaders from both political parties are signing onto a statement of support that we will submit to the UN. And together, we will reach the emission reduction goals the U.S. made in Paris in 2015.”

The U.S. set a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions by 2025, which would bring the U.S. to approximately 27 percent below 2005 levels.

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