Tackling Air Pollution Around Parisian Schools: The City of Paris, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Airparif Release Air Quality Findings, Commit to Expanding Partnership
May 5, 2021
The City of Paris and Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with Airparif, released the results of an ongoing collaboration aimed at improving the understanding of air quality by piloting the use of low-cost sensors to monitor air pollution. Launched in June 2019, the study observed 44 Paris schools, daycare centers and their neighboring streets from September 2019 to September 2020. The pilot project has provided important learnings on how lower-cost micro-sensors can complement the city’s existing air quality monitoring network, alongside other tools, like passive tubes.
Read more631 Cities from 99 Countries Enter Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Global Mayors Challenge
April 20, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that 631 cities from 99 countries have entered the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge, an ideas competition to uncover and support the 50 most innovative solutions developed by cities in the wake of COVID-19. The Challenge was launched in January 2021 and will select 50 Champion Cities from among the hundreds of worldwide applications to test their ideas for several months this year. Fifteen grand prize winners will then be named in December 2021, each of which will receive $1 million to implement their breakthrough ideas and spread them to other cities globally.
Read moreThe Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity Established at Princeton University Through Major Gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies
April 19, 2021
With the goal of enhancing and expanding Princeton University’s fundamental commitment to the college success of talented students from first-generation, lower-income and underrepresented backgrounds, Bloomberg Philanthropies will establish the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity. The Center will bring together the University’s nation-leading initiatives in college access and opportunity, serve as a hub for research and innovation in the field of college access and success, and inform and strengthen similar efforts at colleges and universities across the country.
Read moreCarbon Mapper Launches Satellite Program to Pinpoint Methane and CO2 Super Emitters
April 15, 2021
Carbon Mapper, a new nonprofit organization, announced a pioneering program to help improve understanding of and accelerate reductions in global methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition, the Carbon Mapper consortium announced its plan to deploy a ground-breaking hyperspectral satellite constellation with the ability to pinpoint, quantify and track methane and CO2 emissions.
Read moreBloomberg Philanthropies Commits Over $6 Million to Increase Mobile Unit COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts by America’s Four Historically Black Medical Schools in Black Communities
April 13, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced it will provide more than $6 million collectively to the nation’s four historically Black medical schools to expand their mobile unit COVID-19 vaccine operations in their local communities of Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California. Bloomberg Philanthropies is deepening its partnership with Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as equity and public health advocates have signaled the need for trusted vaccine administrators to combat lack of access and vaccine hesitancy within Black and medically underserved communities.
Read more50% of All Coal Plants in Europe Set to Close, Marking Major Milestone in Phase Out of Coal in Europe by 2030
March 23, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies and Europe Beyond Coal announced that 162 of Europe’s 324 coal plants have closed or confirmed pre-2030 retirements, marking the halfway point in the campaign to retire all coal plants on the continent by 2030 at the latest. This is a major milestone ahead of this year’s U.N. Climate Summit, COP26, and demonstrates the global momentum in the transition away from fossil fuels consistent with the United Nations Secretary-General’s call to phase-out coal in OECD countries by 2030 and everywhere else by 2040.
Read moreMayor Sadiq Khan and Michael R. Bloomberg make major new investment in air quality monitoring in London
March 15, 2021
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Michael R. Bloomberg, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and 108th Mayor of New York City, are announcing a joint investment in air quality monitoring worth almost £1.5m, to help ensure London’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is green and clean.
Read moreMike Bloomberg Reflects on Unprecedented Year: If “we apply what we have learned during the pandemic… we’ll be able to build a safer, healthier, and stronger future for generations to come.”
March 10, 2021
In 2020, Bloomberg Philanthropies worked to improve the lives of millions of people in 810 cities and 170 countries, investing $1.6 billion around the world. Over his lifetime, Mike Bloomberg, Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies founder, World Health Organization Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and 108th mayor of New York City, has so far given $11.1 billion to philanthropy.
Read moreNew studies show School Streets improve air quality
March 9, 2021
To measure the air quality benefits of the new School Streets, 30 cutting-edge sensors from the Breathe London network were installed at 18 primary schools across Brent, Enfield and Lambeth to record nitrogen dioxide levels. The air quality monitoring project, funded by FIA Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, was launched in September 2020 to give the most accurate indication yet of how the School Streets scheme is working.
Read moreBloomberg Philanthropies Invites U.S. Cities to Apply for Grants and Guidance to Transform Streets and Public Spaces Through the Asphalt Art Initiative
March 2, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that cities can now apply for Asphalt Art Initiative grants, which will provide as many as 20 U.S. cities up to $25,000 each for projects that use art and design to improve street safety, revitalize public spaces, and engage residents of their communities. This program, announced at the CityLab 2021 global cities summit, hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Aspen Institute, is inspired by work done to improve pedestrian safety and revitalize New York City streets during Michael R. Bloomberg’s tenure as Mayor from 2002-2013 and the work of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ pro bono consulting arm Bloomberg Associates.
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