Michael Bloomberg will account for the Trump administration's lack of support for the Paris Agreement

(Image credit: Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

published 22 April 2019

Michael Bloomberg would like to wish everyone a happy Earth Day.

When the billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor announced in March that he was not launching a presidential campaign, he said that he would instead use his time to fight climate change. So far, he's following through — with his pocketbook, at least.

Bloomberg said on Monday that he is donating $5.5 million to the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat to "make up the funding gap" created by the Trump administration's decision to contribute just $2.5 million last year, and are expected do so again this year. That total falls short of the $15 million the Obama administration committed over that span after the U.S. signed off on the Paris Agreement on climate change, which the current White House plans to withdraw from in 2020.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.