Forbes: Death Toll On World’s Roads Is Too High, WHO Finds
October 20, 2015
The report was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which since 2007 has committed more than $250 million to help low- and middle- income countries adopt effective road safety measures.
“Thanks to stronger laws and smarter infrastructure, nearly half a billion people in the world are better protected from road crashes than were just a few years ago – and we have the opportunity to do much more, especially when it comes to enforcing laws,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term former Mayor of New York, said in a statement.
Read moreTIME: Mexicans Begin to Slim With the Help of the Soda Tax
October 12, 2015
As the tax completes its second year, activists and big soda are now arguing over how much effect it has on the health and habits of Mexicans. A study funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and involving top academics from Mexico and the United States, finds there was a dip of 6% in the purchase of taxed sweetened beverages in 2014. This dip increased over the year, leading to 12 percent by December.
Read moreThe Washington Post: Why the United Nations should press for higher taxes on tobacco, by Michael R. Bloomberg and Margaret Chen
October 2, 2015
For the first time, the global sustainable-development goals being negotiated at the United Nations treat tobacco use — and the chronic diseases it causes — as a development issue. It’s long overdue.
Read moreThe Huffington Post: Putting Focus on a Deadly — but Preventable — Problem
September 16, 2015
Since 2007, Bloomberg Philanthropies has been helping cities and countries adopt effective road-safety measures, such as reducing drunk driving, increasing seatbelt use, investing in public transportation, and making improvements to roads where there are frequent crashes.
Read moreThe Huffington Post: The Arts Receive Capacity Building of an Unprecedented Scope
September 15, 2015
By investing in arts-management training for small- and mid-size arts organizations through AIM, Bloomberg Philanthropies is helping to secure the future of these organizations to ensure that they continue to drive economic growth and shape the cultural identity of communities and cities around the country for years to come.
Read moreThe Huffington Post: What City Halls Across America Say About Using Data and Evidence
August 4, 2015
By James Anderson
We launched What Works Cities to help 100 mid-size U.S. cities get better at using data and evidence to improve results for residents. Over three years, the effort will help mayors adopt best practices as they open up city data, use data to drive better performance, and rely on evidence to make better policy and funding choices.
An impressive 112 cities from 40 states and Washington, D.C. applied during the initial application period — and tomorrow, we’ll announce the first group of cities we’re investing in. Our commitment through it all is to share what we’re learning.
Read moreSlate: Coal Is Losing the War on Coal
July 17, 2015
And here, too, we’re seeing that, as a result of pressure from several sources—government, cheap natural gas, campaigns like the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal initiative, which Michael Bloomberg’s nonprofit is backing to the tune of $80 million—companies are making important decisions about future coal use.
Read moreThe New York Times: Bloomberg Philanthropies Gives $100 Million to Cornell Tech
June 17, 2015
Cornell Tech, the applied sciences graduate school of Cornell University, is expected to announce a $100 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies on Tuesday to construct the first academic building on the school’s Roosevelt Island campus.
That building will be called the Bloomberg Center, solidifying Cornell’s ties to former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Cornell Tech won a $400 million competition three and a half years ago to build an applied sciences campus on the island, in New York City, an initiative created by the Bloomberg administration.
Read moreThe Financial Times: Rapid urban growth requires prompt action, By Michael R. Bloomberg
May 27, 2015
Seeing the future does not require a crystal ball — just an understanding of cities.
The world is moving from agrarian to urban at a startling pace. In 1900, two out of 10 of the world’s population lived in urban areas. As of 1990, it was less than four in 10. Today, it is more than half and by 2050 two of every three people will live in urban areas. This trend is creating enormous challenges for local and national governments, but also unprecedented opportunities for societal progress. How well cities meet those challenges, and capitalize on the opportunities, will have profound consequences.
Read morePolitico: Inside the war on coal
May 27, 2015
The U.S. had 523 coal-fired power plants when Beyond Coal began targeting them; just last week, it celebrated the 190th retirement of its campaign in Asheville, N.C., culminating a three-year fight that had been featured in the climate documentary “Years of Living Dangerously.”
Beyond Coal isn’t the stereotypical Sierra Club campaign, tree-huggers shouting save-the-Earth slogans. Yes, it sometimes deploys its 2.4 million-member, grass-roots army to shutter plants with traditional not-in-my-back-yard organizing and right-to-breathe agitating. But it usually wins by arguing that ditching coal will save ratepayers money.
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