Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Environment program tackles leading causes behind the climate crisis, aiming to seize the opportunity it presents to revitalize the environment, improve health, spur innovation, and create stronger, more sustainable local economies.
Strengthening Ocean Protections
The ocean is a source of food and livelihoods for over three billion people – and as the world’s largest carbon sink, it is crucial in the fight against climate change.
To address threats to the ocean, we focus on implementing data-driven solutions, convening community leaders and organizations, and supporting partners to advocate for policy change. In 2024, we unveiled the 30×30 Progress Tracker, a user-friendly public digital platform that monitors and reports on global progress to protect the ocean.
Our work in Fiji is helping to protect coral reefs and other ecosystems. Credit: Emily Darling/WCS
Maintaining U.S. Progress on Climate Change
Mike introduced UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the American Museum of Natural History in June 2024.
In January 2025, when the United States announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement for the second time, Bloomberg Philanthropies again stepped up. As we did in 2017, we will follow through on U.S. commitments to report climate progress to the United Nations, while also filling the gap in funding created by the U.S. withdrawal.
“From 2017 to 2020, during a period of federal inaction, cities, states, businesses, and the public rose to the challenge of upholding our nation’s commitments − and now, we are ready to do it again.”
– Mike Bloomberg
Leading Global City Networks on Climate Change
Cities are on the frontlines of today’s most pressing challenges – from pollution to energy access.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is closely involved in global city networks dedicated to accelerating local climate action, such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. These networks elevate city leadership, bring leaders together to share strategies, and measure progress toward key climate goals. We also continue to support America Is All In, a coalition of more than 5,000 U.S. cities, states, businesses, universities, and tribes committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Leaders involved in C40, including Mayor Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown, Mayor Paes of Rio de Janeiro, and Mayor Hidalgo of Paris, met with President Lula of Brazil and President Boric of Chile at the Urban 20 Summit, which we supported. Credit: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
Advancing Climate Finance
At the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in September 2024, Mike and other leaders addressed the importance of climate finance.
Historic levels of private investment are required to build a stronger, more sustainable future, unlock the full potential for growth in emerging markets and developing economies, and allow for industry and nature to be part of the solution. While this global transition represents a major economic opportunity, investment is not increasing as fast as it should.
Through our work, we are helping to bridge the gap between opportunity and investment – supporting initiatives that provide businesses and investors with critical data to understand risks and opportunities, bringing together financial firms who recognize the opportunities created by the transition, and fostering public-private partnerships that overcome barriers to investment.
Accelerating the Energy Transition
Across the United States, the transition to clean energy represents an opportunity to create jobs, improve public health, and stave off the worst threats of climate change. In 2019, we launched the Beyond Carbon campaign to tackle the issue, building on work we have supported since 2011 that has retired more than 73 percent of U.S. coal plants.
We have now helped to halt nearly a quarter of proposed methane gas capacity and ensured that 19 states and two territories have clean energy policies, up from just two in 2019. In 2024, U.S. wind and solar generated more power than coal for the first time, and the entire New England region went coal-free after the final two plants committed to closing. The campaign’s success also inspired the expansion of our work globally – which has helped retire 59 percent of Europe’s coal plants, among other progress.
U.S. Power Generation: Driving Down Coal and Increasing Clean Energy
73%
73%U.S. coal plants retired since 2010
21
21U.S. states and territories with clean energy policies, up from 2 in 2019
59%
59%of Europe’s coal plants retired since 2017
Stopping U.S. Petrochemicals
As part of our work to retire U.S. coal plants, our partners secured the retirement of the Chambers Cogeneration Plant in Carney’s Point, NJ, which is now transitioning to a clean energy storage facility.
Petrochemical facilities, which produce fossil fuel-based plastics, fertilizers, fabrics, and other consumer products, generate a growing share of U.S. emissions and toxic air pollution.
In 2022, we launched the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign with local partners to stop the industry’s planned expansion, which would have devastating consequences for both public health and the environment. The effort has now stopped the construction of 26 of the roughly 130 proposed petrochemical facilities nationwide, averting annual emissions equivalent to 18 coal plants as well as 33,500 tons of toxic air pollutants.
Tackling Global Methane Emissions
As part of our work to tackle methane emissions, a major driver of climate change, we supported the launch of a methane-detecting satellite in 2024 that is bringing new data and transparency to the challenge. In just its first month in operation, the satellite detected more than 1,000 methane and carbon dioxide plumes like this one in Texas’ Permian Basin – which spurred a pipeline facility to fix the source.
Credit: Carbon Mapper and Planet Labs
SPOTLIGHT
Helping Cities Breathe Easy
Paris, France
Paris is one of 14 cities we have partnered with to address air pollution. Our support has allowed the city to strengthen its air quality monitoring – including deploying 138 air quality sensors at 44 schools. This new data drove the city to implement air quality improvements for 300 school streets and introduce ambitious traffic restrictions on polluting vehicles, which cut nitrogen oxide pollution by more than 23% since 2019. In 2024, the city hosted other partner cities in our clean air work to further spread effective solutions.
Driving Global Action on Climate Change
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Environment program tackles one of the world’s greatest challenges: the climate crisis. With government and business leaders, experts, and grassroots advocates, we are taking bold action to build a more sustainable economy.
Overview
Driving the U.S. transition from coal and methane gas to clean energy
Stopping the expansion of petrochemicals in key U.S. states
Advocating for global coal plant closures, clean energy policies, and mobilizing capital
Leading sustainable finance work by supporting the private sector to reach net-zero emissions, disclose climate risks, and invest in the clean energy transition
Supporting local climate action with mayors and other local leaders
Partnering with cities to improve air quality
Protecting ocean ecosystems and coastal communities
Driving the U.S. Transition Away from Fossil Fuels
Bloomberg Philanthropies has long been at the forefront of the U.S. fight to end coal and accelerate the transition to clean energy, beginning with our partnership with the Sierra Club on the grassroots Beyond Coal campaign in 2011. In 2019, building on that campaign’s success, we launched Beyond Carbon to retire all remaining U.S. coal plants by 2030, block proposed methane gas plants, and support states and climate leaders to pass strong clean energy policies. In 2022 alone, through grassroots pressure, litigation, advocacy, and other strategies, the program secured retirements of 17 coal plants, blocked 34 new gas plants, and helped three states pass 100% clean energy or net-zero emissions policies. In the decade between 2010 and 2020, this work delivered more than 80% of all the progress the United States has made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a new campaign to block the construction or expansion of new U.S. petrochemical facilities, a major source of carbon emissions, air pollution, and cancer-causing toxins. Petrochemicals are a broad group of chemicals that are derived from gas and oil and used to make plastics and fertilizers. Our Beyond Petrochemicals campaign aims to block roughly 120 proposed facilities that would produce petrochemicals, concentrated in five states: Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Existing facilities already meet the current demand for petrochemicals, and these planned facilities threaten to subject local communities to even greater health and climate risks.
Global Reach, Local Impact: Minnesota
Retired over
70%
70%of all U.S. coal plants since 2010
Blocked
31%
31%of proposed gas capacity since 2020
18 states and 2 territories now have policies to reach
100%
100%clean energy or net-zero emissions
Chambers Power Station, a coal plant we helped retire in Carneys Point, New Jersey, is transitioning to a clean energy transmission and storage facility.
Spotlight
Mike joined key partners to launch the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign in September 2022.
Beyond Petrochemicals
In September 2022, our partners used litigation and grassroots organizing to block the massive Formosa petrochemical plant, which was proposed along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The plant would have released carbon emissions equivalent to three coal plants, along with other toxic pollutants.
Accelerating the Global Clean Energy Transition
Beginning in 2017 with the launch of the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, Bloomberg Philanthropies has worked to end coal and accelerate clean energy investment globally. In Europe, this work has retired more than 52% of the continent’s coal plants. Similar campaigns have secured the early retirement of one-third of Australia’s plants and one-third of South Korea’s plants, and canceled more than half of Japan’s planned plants. We have also supported additional research, advocacy, and technical assistance in China, India, and Indonesia to help lay out a path for the clean energy transition. In 2022, we expanded this work to 25 developing countries across Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America with the greatest threat of new coal and the greatest potential for clean energy development.
Bloomberg Philanthropies also leads and supports a wide array of efforts to mobilize the private sector in the global climate fight. Mike chairs the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which shares guidelines to help companies quantify and disclose risks posed by climate change, bringing greater transparency to the financial impacts of the climate crisis. He also co-chairs the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) with Bloomberg Philanthropies board member Mark Carney, which helps financial institutions and other private-sector organizations commit to reaching net-zero emissions, create credible and science-based transition plans, and invest in the global transition to clean energy.
More than 550 financial institutions with assets of
$135trillion
$135trillionhave committed to reaching net-zero through GFANZ
Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero co-chairs Mike Bloomberg and Mark Carney, and vice chair Mary Schapiro, met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten
Spotlight
Global Coal to Clean Energy Work
- Ongoing work in 7 countries and Europe
- Work launched in 2022 in 25 developing countries
Improving Global Air Quality
Bloomberg Philanthropies supports efforts that improve air quality management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect public health. Since 2019, this work has helped seven cities — Brussels, Denver, London, Milan, Mumbai, Paris, and Warsaw — deploy hundreds of air quality sensors, analyze data, and pass policies to reduce pollution. We also partner at the national level with India and Indonesia to help manage air pollution and support the transition to clean energy. In total, we have helped pass more than 30 clean air policies.
Global Reach, Local Impact: Mumbai
Spotlight
Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with London to gather air quality data and better manage air pollution. Credit: Clear Channel UK
Breathe London
Together with Mayor Sadiq Khan, we have supported the deployment of more than 200 low-cost air sensors across London to improve access to reliable, localized, real-time air quality data. The resulting data has helped Mayor Khan make the case for closing school streets to traffic and expanding the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone with charges for high-emitting vehicles. This work has led to four million more residents breathing cleaner air.
Strengthening Local Climate Action
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in local climate action across the United States. America Is All In, which Mike co-chairs, is the most expansive coalition of leaders ever assembled in support of U.S. climate action, rallying thousands of cities, states, tribal nations, businesses, and more to meet the Paris Agreement goals. In 2022, the group released a landmark report that showed how the country, with the critical steps taken by local leaders together with ongoing federal action and funding, can meet its national target to halve carbon emissions by 2030.
We also work closely with two leading city networks committed to the climate fight: the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. C40 includes nearly 100 major cities whose mayors have committed to reducing emissions and strengthening their climate resilience. Three-quarters of C40 cities are cutting per capita emissions faster than their national governments, and they have reduced air pollution by 5% since 2018. The Global Covenant is an alliance of more than 12,000 cities and local governments focused on creating ambitious targets to limit emissions and reporting on their progress. Mike serves as president of the board of C40 and as co-chair of the Global Covenant.
Global Reach, Local Impact: Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur
Protecting Ocean Ecosystems and Coastal Communities
Bloomberg Philanthropies works with global partners to protect the world’s ocean from the threats of climate change, overfishing, and pollution. In 2022, we launched a new phase of the initiative to help achieve the United Nations’ goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, boosted by the recent adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We are supporting global partners to advocate for data-driven solutions, community involvement, and policy change that can help safeguard marine ecosystems, including coral reefs. This work is critical both to the global climate fight and to the livelihoods of coastal communities.
Global Reach, Local Impact: Chile
Strengthened the protection of
10.8million
10.8millionsquare miles of ocean
Helped pass
17
17national laws on ocean conservation
Reached commitments from
10
10countries to publish data on fishing vessel locations
Bloomberg Philanthropies works to protect ocean ecosystems, like this reef in Fiji. Credit: Tom Vierus/Wildlife Conservation Society
Convening Global Leaders to Accelerate Action on Climate Change
Throughout 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies brought together world leaders, mayors, experts, and climate advocates on critical environmental issues
In September, we co-hosted the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit with The Earthshot Prize to highlight groundbreaking climate innovations and solutions.
In October, at the 2022 C40 World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards recognized the 10 most ambitious, impactful, and replicable global climate projects in cities. The winning cities are cleaning the air, improving waste management, expanding green spaces and bus lanes, and much more.
In November, we served as an official partner for the UN’s COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, where we made a series of major announcements to expand our work on the clean energy transition in developing countries, bring data and transparency to private sector climate commitments, and build new public-private partnerships. In the 45 days leading up to the summit, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg L.P., and our partners also took more than 90 actions to support the UN’s climate agenda.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Environment program
Top photo: In western Pennsylvania, our efforts helped secure the retirement of this major coal plant, the Keystone Generating Station.
Tackling the Global Climate Crisis
The Environment program works with key partners, including mayors and other government officials, business leaders, grassroots partners, and environmental advocates, to implement bold programs that tackle the climate crisis and help build a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy. These efforts are accelerating the transition from coal to clean energy, improving air quality and public health, advancing city climate action, protecting and preserving ocean ecosystems, and helping unlock billions of dollars in sustainable finance.
Stories of Impact
Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr
President, Hip Hop Caucus
Spotlight
Supporting International Climate Action at COP26 in Glasgow
In his role as the UN Secretary-General‘s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, Mike Bloomberg joins members of the C40 Cities World Mayors Summit at COP26.
As official partners of COP26, the UN’s climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. rolled out 85 climate actions in the 60 days leading up to the conference to support the UN’s climate agenda. Among many more, these actions included:
- Committing new funding to strengthen capacity to fight climate change across the UN and promote ambition and solutions
- Joining a first-of-its-kind alliance of more than 20 philanthropic organizations to support efforts to drastically cut global methane emissions
- Launching a new Climate Innovation Fund in partnership with Goldman Sachs and the Asian Development Bank to accelerate the transition to clean energy in South and Southeast Asia
Mike Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, joined world leaders and climate advocates at the conference. At the summit, Mike:
- Announced a major expansion of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ work to end coal around the world
- Joined White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and non-federal leaders to champion federal and local climate partnership and announce additional support for America Is All In
- Joined Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, in hosting the finalists and winners of The Earthshot Prize, to whom Mike serves as Global Advisor
- Was announced as co-chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
- Supported the launch of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, a new coalition advancing the phase-out of oil and gas production
Learn more about Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support for international climate action.
Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy
Beyond Carbon
Launched in 2019, Beyond Carbon builds on the success of the U.S. Beyond Coal campaign, led by the Sierra Club and backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, that has helped retire more than two-thirds of all U.S. coal plants in just a decade. Beyond Carbon is working to retire all U.S. coal plants by 2030, stop the construction of proposed gas plants, and – through Mike’s personal political support – help win elections and policy changes at the state and local levels. It is the largest coordinated campaign to fight climate change in U.S. history.
In addition to retiring the majority of U.S. coal plants, these efforts have helped pass key laws in states across the country. Fifteen states, as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., now have laws putting them on the path to reaching 100 percent clean energy or achieving net zero emissions. The campaign has also blocked 30 gigawatts of planned gas capacity from being constructed.
Global Campaign to End Coal
In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the grassroots Europe Beyond Coal campaign to close coal plants and drive the transition to clean energy across the continent, building on the success of U.S. Beyond Coal. The campaign has since helped retire more than half of Europe’s coal plants, and 23 European countries have now committed to a complete coal phase-out. The effort led to the launch of similar campaigns in Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Bloomberg Philanthropies also supports efforts to move from coal to clean energy in China, India, and Indonesia.
At COP26, Mike Bloomberg announced a major expansion of this work in 25 low- and middle-income countries where coal power is projected to grow rapidly. The expansion will work to close a quarter of the world’s 2,445 remaining coal plants and block all 519 proposed plants by 2025. With the Powering Past Coal Alliance, Bloomberg Philanthropies also launched the Bloomberg Global Coal Countdown, a comprehensive online resource tracking the status of every global plant.
Stories of Impact
Brandon Dennison
Founder and CEO, Coalfield Development
Improving Global Air Quality
Air Pollution
Air pollution is a major threat to public health, and it is often caused by significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Bloomberg Philanthropies supports air quality management projects in Brussels, Belgium; Jakarta, Indonesia; London, United Kingdom; Milan, Italy; and Paris, France, and key national partnerships, including in India and Indonesia, to manage air pollution and support the transition to clean energy.
In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with London Mayor Sadiq Khan to launch the Breathe London program, which provides 60 community air quality sensors to gather and share real-time air quality data. The effort has supported the city’s ambitious air quality agenda, including the expansion of vehicle emissions limits to cover more of the city.
Accelerating Local Climate Action with Mike’s Leadership
America Is All In
America Is All In is the most expansive coalition of leaders ever assembled in support of U.S. climate action, including thousands of cities, states, tribal nations, businesses, and other organizations. Mike Bloomberg serves as co-chair. In October 2021, the coalition released a comprehensive roadmap for the United States to draw on critical contributions from local leaders and achieve its new national climate target: reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2030 – which the coalition successfully helped advocate for the Biden administration to announce. The report, Blueprint 2030, lays out specific policies and actions that can help the country reach its Paris Agreement goals.
Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is a network of more than 11,000 cities and local governments that works to create ambitious, measurable targets to reduce and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Mike serves as co-chair with Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission. At COP26, the Global Covenant was awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, in recognition of its outstanding efforts to enhance and support city climate action around the world. The €1 million prize will advance two critical infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa to help mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a global network of nearly 100 major cities whose mayors have committed to cutting emissions and becoming more resilient to the effects of climate change. Mike serves as board president. In 2021, C40 continued releasing critical data on the power and importance of city climate action. Fifteen cities joined C40’s Renewable Energy Declaration to prioritize clean energy systems for residents. The network also rallied more than 1,000 cities to join the Race to Zero campaign with commitments to reach net zero emissions by 2050. London Mayor Sadiq Khan was recently named C40 chair, taking over from the outgoing chair, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
American Cities Climate Challenge
Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the American Cities Climate Challenge to help 25 major U.S. cities develop and implement effective climate policies. Focused on reducing emissions from buildings and transportation, the two largest sources of emissions in most cities, the program provides powerful resources and support, including embedded staff, technical assistance, and implementation expertise. After their participation in the program, including launching 76 new climate programs and passing 60 major buildings, energy, and transportation policies, the 25 cities are projected to reduce their carbon emissions by 83 million metric tons through 2030. Collectively, they are expected to cut emissions by 32 percent by 2025, surpassing the Paris Agreement goals.
Spotlight Cities
Boston, MA
City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that requires the city’s largest buildings to meet increasingly aggressive emissions reduction targets over time.
St. Paul, MN
The city eliminated minimum parking requirements and launched an ambitious new policy that encourages more walking, biking, and transit-friendly development.
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles launched a $75 million program to provide energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electrification incentives for low-income renters.
Orlando, FL
City Council passed an ordinance requiring electric vehicle charging stations in many new developments, with additional infrastructure to install future chargers.
Protecting Livelihoods of Coastal Communities
Vibrant Oceans Initiative
The Vibrant Oceans Initiative works to protect the world’s ocean from the threats of climate change, overfishing, and pollution. Focusing on 10 countries that produce more than 80 percent of all fish caught worldwide, the initiative advocates for policy changes, funds reef conservation, and promotes sharing data on fisheries, while building partnerships with governments and other philanthropic funders.
Over the last three years, the initiative’s partners have helped pass 17 policies in 12 countries and nearly 100 additional state or local policies to safeguard coastal ecosystems and local economies. This work has also helped protect more than 9.3 million square miles of ocean – nearly three times the land area of the United States. As part of the global effort to improve transparency, eight countries have now committed to publishing fishing data on Global Fishing Watch. Data is also available on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Mobilizing Markets to Tackle Climate Change
Sustainable Finance
Bloomberg Philanthropies supports efforts to bring greater transparency to the financial impacts of climate change. This work focuses on improving companies’ disclosure of risks associated with climate change, advancing emissions reduction goals across markets and financial institutions, and helping mobilize capital to finance the transition to clean energy.
Partner organizations advancing this work with Mike Bloomberg’s leadership and support include the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI), and the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), formerly the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. In 2022, the Value Reporting Foundation will consolidate under the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, which has established the International Sustainability Standards Board to create new global sustainability disclosure standards for financial markets.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Environment program
Top photo: Mike Bloomberg and HRH Prince William host the finalists and winners of The Royal Foundation‘s Earthshot Prize in Glasgow, Scotland.