Beyond Carbon, a first-of-its-kind ambitious plan to put the United States on course to a 100 percent clean energy economy, builds on Mike Bloomberg’s successful investments in:
Beyond Coal – In 2011, Mike partnered with Sierra Club in their Beyond Coal effort, which has delivered the greatest carbon emissions reduction in U.S. history, shuttering more than half the U.S. coal fleet.
America’s Pledge – In 2017, Mike and former California Governor Jerry Brown launched America’s Pledge, which showcases how cities, states, and businesses can drive progress without the federal government. America’s Pledge is a commitment showing the world how, even in the absence of federal leadership, the United States will continue to work to drive down emissions towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.
American Cities Climate Challenge – In 2018, Mike launched the American Cities Climate Challenge, which is tackling accelerated bottom-up implementation of plans to reduce carbon pollution at the city-level.
Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term Mayor of New York City whose innovations in government and philanthropy have made him a global leader on climate change, public health, and other critical issues facing America and the world. Elected mayor in 2001, he implemented PlaNYC, an unprecedented citywide sustainability plan, and reduced New York’s carbon footprint by 14 percent and added more than 850 acres of new park land. After leaving City Hall, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial information and technology startup he launched in 1981 that now employs nearly 20,000 people in 120 countries. Bloomberg has served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action. He was charged with galvanizing the efforts of governments, businesses, and civil society to fight climate change, and has made the issue a top priority of his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. In the wake of Congress’ failure to pass a climate bill in 2010, Bloomberg worked with the Sierra Club to launch the Beyond Coal campaign, which has retired more than half of all U.S. coal plants since its inception. Politico has called it perhaps the most effective campaign in the history of the environmental movement. When President Trump announced his intention to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Bloomberg joined former California Governor Jerry Brown to create “America’s Pledge,” a coalition of more than 3,000 local leaders committed to meeting the goals the U.S. set under the Agreement. With the launch of Beyond Carbon – the largest-ever coordinated campaign to fight the climate crisis in the U.S. – Bloomberg’s investment in the global fight against climate change reaches $1 billion. Bloomberg leads two networks of cities focused on meeting ambitious climate goals, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Global Covenant of Mayors. He serves as Chair of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and launched and chaired the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, both of which provide companies with standards to improve the transparency of climate-related risks and opportunities. In 2019, he formed the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative with other private sector leaders to accelerate investments in climate solutions. Bloomberg is co-author, with Carl Pope, of the New York Times bestseller Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet.
Mike Bloomberg launches Beyond Carbon, the largest coordinated campaign on climate change the United States has ever undertaken. It will turbo-charge work that is underway in nearly every corner of the country, empower elected officials and citizens who are leading it, mobilize voters who support it, and ensure that America leads the way in upholding the Paris Climate Agreement – and move the world well beyond it. Mike Bloomberg announced the Midwestern Collegiate Climate Summit, the largest expected convening of Midwest universities seeking to fight climate change and move to a 100% clean-energy economy. Washington University in St. Louis is the Anchor University, and Ohio State University is a Founding Member. Bloomberg Philanthropies' documentary ``Paris to Pittsburgh`` is premiered in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Charleston, Pittsburgh, and Orlando. It celebrates how Americans are demanding and developing real solutions in the face of climate change. Mike Bloomberg joins former California Governor Jerry Brown in convening more than 4,000 business, city, state, and civil society delegates to share progress and encourage more ambition on climate action. Bloomberg Philanthropies announces the American Cities Climate Challenge to support mayors tackling climate change in the United States, a challenge open to the 100 most populous cities in the United States. UN Secretary-General António Guterres appoints Mike Bloomberg as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action. Under his new title, Mike is charged with galvanizing the efforts of local and regional governments, businesses, and civil society. California Governor Jerry Brown and Mike Bloomberg release the inaugural America’s Pledge report. The report is the first communication to the international community specifically addressing the scope and scale of non-federal climate action in the United States following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Mike Bloomberg travels to the global climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany to launch the Europe Beyond Coal campaign with a $50M investment. The goal is the end coal in Europe by 2030. Bloomberg Philanthropies doubles down with a $64 million investment to continue Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign and also support the League of Conservation Voters state affiliates and state advocacy coalitions working for clean energy policy in more than a dozen states. Mike Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown form a partnership to lead America’s Pledge, an initiative for cities, states, universities and businesses to deliver the country’s ambitious climate goals of the Paris agreement. A documentary on the legacy and future of coal in America, “From the Ashes,” produced by Radical Media LLC in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and distributed by National Geographic makes its primetime premiere. The day after Washington backed out of the Paris Agreement, Mike Bloomberg travels to Paris to meet with President Emmanuel Macron and Mayor Anne Hidalgo to ensure the world that Americans don’t need Washington to meet its Paris commitment – they are still in. Bloomberg Philanthropies announces a $3 million fund to support local economic development efforts in coal communities. Mike Bloomberg and Carl Pope release their new book “Climate of Hope,” an optimistic conversation about climate change that outlines how cities, businesses, and individuals can help save the planet. Mike Bloomberg joins European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič to announce the new Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, a newly merged initiative between the Compact of Mayors and the Covenant of Mayors. At COP21 Chair of the global Financial Stability Board Mark Carney announces the formation of an industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures with Mike Bloomberg as chair. TCFD aims to develop climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Mike Bloomberg convene more than 200 mayors at the Climate Summit for Local Leaders, a historic event coinciding with the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris. Bloomberg Philanthropies invests an additional $54 million to increase the ambition of coal retirements and secure the retirement of half of the U.S. coal fleet by 2017 while winning state policy. Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Heising-Simons family commit $48 million to launch the Clean Energy Initiative to support state-based solutions that will ensure an American energy system that is clean, affordable, and reliable. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appoints Mike Bloomberg as his first Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, signaling cities’ significant role in keeping the planet from warming. Bloomberg Philanthropies helps scale the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan nationally by committing $3.2 million to City Energy Project, a 10-city effort to cut climate pollution from buildings. Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson launch the Risk Business Initiative, a year-long effort to quantify and publicize the economic risks the United States faces from the impacts of a changing climate. New York City’s air quality reaches the cleanest levels in more than 50 years, with dramatic reductions in air pollutants since the launch of the Administration's sustainability plan PlaNYC. Since 2008, levels of sulfur dioxide in the air have dropped by 69%. Following Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Bloomberg releases a Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, a $20 billion plan to protect New York City against the impacts of climate change. Bloomberg LP becomes an anchor participant in the Mayors Carbon Challenge, which invites the private sector to match New York City government’s goal to reduce its emissions by 30% in 10 years – part of the broader PlaNYC goal to reduce citywide emissions 30% by 2030. Bloomberg Philanthropies awards $6 million grant over 3 years to the Environmental Defense Fund to win strict regulations on fracking in the 14 states that produce the most natural gas. To demonstrate Mike Bloomberg’s overarching commitment to sustainability, Bloomberg LP completes an 8-acre solar energy system to help power the company’s New Jersey office. Bloomberg Philanthropies commits $50 million to Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, with an initial goal of retiring one third of the coal plants in the U.S., and moving America toward cleaner energy. Mayor Bloomberg is appointed Chair of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the network of world’s megacities working together to take measurable actions to reduce carbon emissions. Mayor Bloomberg targets buildings, the highest emissions-emitting sector, by introducing The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, which will help reduce emissions in New York City by 5%. Mayor Bloomberg and New York Restoration Founder Bette Midler plant the first three in the Million Trees NYC initiative to plant and care for one million trees throughout the city in the next decade. Part of PlaNYC, Million Trees NYC will expand the city’s urban forest by 20%. Mayor Bloomberg unveils PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York, a comprehensive plan to prepare the city for one million more residents, strengthen the economy, combat climate change, and enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers by 2030. Mayor Bloomberg announces a series of initiatives to create an ambitious environmental agenda for New York City, including the creation of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and board to advise the City on environmental practices and policies.It’s time to get more ambitious – it’s time to move Beyond Carbon
Mike Bloomberg
Environmental leader
Mike’s Environmental Work
A timeline of climate leadership: 2006-2019
June 2019
Beyond Carbon
May 2019
Midwestern Collegiate Climate Summit
December 2018
Paris to Pittsburgh
September 2018
Global Climate Action Summit
June 2018
American Cities Climate Challenge
March 2018
UN Special Envoy for Climate Action
November 2017
America’s Pledge Inaugural Report
November 2017
Launch Beyond Coal Europe
October 2017
Doubling Down on Coal and Clean Energy
July 2017
America’s Pledge
June 2017
From the Ashes
June 2017
We Are Still In
April 2017
Support Local Efforts for Coal Workers and Communities
April 2017
Climate of Hope
June 2016
Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
December 2015
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
December 2015
Climate Summit for Local Leaders
April 2015
Beyond Coal Expansion
2015
Clean Energy Initiative
2014
UN Special Envoy
2014
National Greener, Greater Buildings Plan
October 2013
Risky Business Initiative
September 2013
Cleanest Air Quality in 50+ Years
June 2013
Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency
April 2013
Mayors Carbon Challenge
August 2012
Fracking Regulations
March 2012
Bloomberg LP NJ Goes Solar
July 2011
Investment in Beyond Coal
November 2010
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
December 2009
NYC’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan
October 2007
Million Trees NYC
April 2007
PlaNYC
September 2006
Created NYC Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
