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By Kelly Shultz and Anne Emig of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Environment and Government Innovation teams

Last week, the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge brought together more than 100 of the country’s foremost city sustainability leaders for a three-day convening in Austin. Participants represented a robust network of world-class partners, dedicated city officials, and leading policy experts who all share one common goal: fight climate change on a local level to create healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable communities for city residents.

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By James Anderson, head of the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies

American cities are in a unique and powerful position to uncover innovative, scalable, and impactful solutions to today’s biggest concerns—including everything from homelessness and opioid addiction to climate change and mobility. And that’s why, after successful runs in the United States, Europe, and Latin America & the Caribbean, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge returned to the U.S. last year: to empower the kind of optimistic and entrepreneurial problem-solving city leaders are ready to deliver.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg joined Austin Mayor Steve Adler and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg in Austin and San Antonio, respectively, to announce Albuquerque, Austin, Denver, Orlando and San Antonio as the final winners in Bloomberg’s American Cities Climate Challenge. These five cities complete the twenty-five total winning cities in the challenge, joining the twenty others previously announced: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Saint Paul, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, and Washington, D.C.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg joined St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman to announce St. Petersburg as the twentieth winning city in Bloomberg’s American Cities Climate Challenge. Bloomberg also announced the expansion of the program’s total winning cities from 20 to 25, citing the strength of city applications to the program. The program will now work with 25 cities to accelerate their ambitious efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for residents. St. Petersburg joins nineteen other winners announced last year: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Saint Paul, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg joined Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles at the UNC Charlotte Center City Garden to announce Charlotte as the nineteenth winning city in Bloomberg’s American Cities Climate Challenge. Charlotte joins eighteen other winners announced this year: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Saint Paul, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg joined Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell to announce Honolulu as the next winning city in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ American Cities Climate Challenge. Honolulu joins the previously announced winners – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Jose, Saint Paul, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. – as the 18^th of 20 winning cities of the Climate Challenge.

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Next to the Mill City Museum, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg joined Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter to announce Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, and St. Louis as the next round of winning cities in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ American Cities Climate Challenge. These seven cities are the next round of cities to join ten previously announced winners – Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. – as 17 of the total 20 cities to be named winners of the Climate Challenge.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto in West End Overlook Park to announce Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. as the next round of winning cities for the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge. These four cities join six other cities – Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle – as the first half of the total twenty cities that will be named winners of the Climate Challenge. The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge is a $70 million-dollar program that will accelerate these 20 cities’ efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for residents.

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UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) President Rhea Suh at the Griffith Park Observatory to announce California cities Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose as well as Portland, Oregon as the next round of winning cities for the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge. These four cities join Seattle and Atlanta, which Bloomberg announced last month. The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge is a $70 million-dollar program that will accelerate 20 cities’ efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for residents.

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Today, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle’s Kerry Park to announce Seattle and Atlanta as the first round of winning cities for the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge. The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge is a $70 million dollar program that will accelerate 20 ambitious cities’ efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for residents. Through the Climate Challenge – which is part of Bloomberg’s American Cities Initiative, a suite of more than $200 million in investments to strengthen city halls and advance critical policies – Seattle and Atlanta are accepted into a two-year acceleration program, will be provided powerful new resources and access to cutting-edge support to help meet or beat the cities’ near-term carbon reduction goals.

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By Antha Williams and James Anderson

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Michael R. Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and co-chair of America’s Pledge, announced the $70 million American Cities Climate Challenge, a major new effort to expedite progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while growing local economies during a time of inaction from the federal government. Through a competitive process, Bloomberg Philanthropies will select the 20 mayors demonstrating the strongest leadership and commitment to move America forward on delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement – a 26% reduction in emissions from 2005 levels. Selected cities will participate in a two-year program designed to significantly deepen the impact of their efforts to tackle climate change. The $70 million investment includes funding from a philanthropic partner and additional charitable partners may join the effort in the future.

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Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the inaugural group of nine cities to achieve What Works Cities Certification, a first-of-its-kind national standard of excellence in city governance. What Works Cities Certification rates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making. The certification recognizes Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louisville, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C for their proven leadership in data-driven government. Through What Works Cities, the nine cities will each receive additional expert assistance to accelerate progress and deepen their leadership in using data.

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Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the 20 Latin American and Caribbean cities selected as finalists in its 2016 Mayors Challenge, a competition that encourages cities to generate bold ideas that solve urban challenges and improve city life – and have potential to spread.  The finalists, hailing from 10 countries, will move forward to compete for a 5 million USD grand prize and four 1 million USD awards, as well as extensive implementation support. The ideas reflect creative new approaches to some of the most pressing issues facing cities in the region, including mobility, youth unemployment, waste management, obesity, and social and economic inclusion for immigrants and people with disabilities.

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By Antha N. Williams , Bloomberg Philanthropies Environment team

New York City has sparked debate across the country over its decision to use congestion pricing to accelerate and help fund the adoption of low-carbon transportation. Now, several other cities in the U.S., including DC, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, are starting to explore the potential for this bold action to advance their own climate and livability efforts.

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As members of the American Talent Initiative (ATI) convene this week, we are re-running an episode featuring a conversation between Dan Porterfield, ATI Steering Committee member, and Howard Wolfson, head of the education program here at Bloomberg Philanthropies. At the time this episode was recorded, Dan Porterfield was the president of Franklin & Marshall College; he is now the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

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This year, we’ve been able to get an inside look at an important question: How ready are American cities to fight climate change? The answer is important to the future of our planet. Globally, cities are the source of 70 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly via the cars urban dwellers drive and the energy required to heat and cool their buildings. U.S. cities are responsible for a disproportionate share of the total.

Our inside look came through the Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Climate Challenge. It’s a $70 million effort aimed at accelerating work already happening on the ground in U.S. cities to reduce carbon pollution. More than 50 cities applied, and as co-leaders of the initiative, we visited almost 40 of them.

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This past month the United States sold its one-millionth electric car (more than 4 million have been sold globally). The event marks a significant milestone and demonstrates that mobility in the U.S. is on the threshold of a major technological transition to an electric mobility future. This monumental transportation transition is coupled with unprecedented levels of subnational engagement on climate change. Leadership on climate change and clean transportation is increasingly coming from states and cities who have come forward to uphold the Paris Climate Accord in the face of federal resistance.

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A nationwide alliance of leading colleges and universities has made significant progress in improving opportunity for low- and moderate-income students, according to a new report.

Members of the American Talent Initiative (ATI) have increased enrollment of students who receive federal Pell grants by 7,291 since the 2015-16 school year. This momentum, highlighted in A 2018 Report on the Progress of the American Talent Initiative in its First Two Years, released today, indicates that ATI is on track to reach its goal to make higher education at colleges and universities with high graduation rates available to 50,000 additional low- and moderate-income students by 2025.

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By Alexandra Rotatori, Rocky Mountain Institute and Celina Bonugli, World Resources Institute

Cities in the United States are uniquely positioned to spur growth in demand for renewable energy procurement, accelerate the transition to a clean energy system, and provide visible and practical examples for the country as whole. By demonstrating to states, regions, and the federal government that it is possible to take practical, actionable steps to decarbonize electricity use, city leaders have the potential to inspire impact far beyond their limited jurisdictions. (Case in point: the Washington, D.C., City Council just unanimously voted “yes” to require 100 percent of the district’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2032—against a background of political gridlock at the federal level.)

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