American billionaire Michael Bloomberg has announced that his philanthropy and other climate funders will step in to cover US financial obligations to the United Nations climate body after President Donald Trump ordered a halt to contributions.
As the world’s largest economy, the US should pay the largest dues for the functioning of the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), based on UN criteria. The US annual contributions typically cover 22% of the body’s core budget which is made up of contributions from its member states.
But the body risked a funding shortfall after President Donald Trump, a climate change sceptic, signed an executive order on his first day in office saying US officials should “immediately cease or revoke” any financial commitment made under the UNFCCC. He also started the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement.
A few days later, Bloomberg said his namesake philanthropy and other unnamed funders would fill the gap left by the federal government and meet US obligations to the UNFCCC.
Cash injection
“From 2017 to 2020, during a period of federal inaction, cities, states, businesses, and the public rose to the challenge to uphold our nation’s commitments – and now, we are ready to do it again,” said Bloomberg, who is also the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on climate ambition and solutions.
Bloomberg Philanthropies had already stepped in with a cash injection to the UN climate body during Trump’s first term in the White House and kept contributing through the Biden presidency. It was also the biggest non-state funder of UNFCCC activities in 2024 with a $4.5 million payment.
The US had accumulated arrears during Trump’s first presidency that the Biden administration cleared with a $3.3 million one-off payment last year. US contributions to the UNFCCC totalled $13.3 million in 2024.
Japan and Germany were the other top financial supporters last year – giving $14.8 million and $10.5 million respectively – with their voluntary contributions far exceeding required commitments. The UNFCCC is headquartered in the German city of Bonn.
Simon Stiell, UNFCCC executive secretary, welcomed Bloomberg’s support. “While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital in enabling the UN Climate Change secretariat to support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement,” he said in a statement.
The UNFCCC’s mandate has expanded in recent years from helping with the running of the annual COP climate summits to organising an ever-growing number of negotiating sessions throughout the year and supporting a regular review of climate action reports submitted by countries, among other things. Its budget has consequently ballooned to $165 million for the 2024-2025 period.
Trump orders US to quit Paris Agreement and pause all foreign climate finance
Stiell warned last year that the body would face “severe financial challenges”, putting its work at risk, unless countries plugged the funding gap. The shortfall forced the UNFCCC to cut back on certain activities last year, including cancelling regional climate weeks which usually take place in the Global South.
While funding for the UNFCCC’s work should continue, there has so far been no indication that anyone will step in to cover the much larger amounts the US government is supposed to contribute towards climate projects in developing countries. The US provided around $11 billion in international climate finance in 2024.
In December 2023, the Biden administration promised to work with Congress to give $3 billion to the UN’s Green Climate Fund. This has yet to be delivered and is unlikely to materialise during Trump’s presidency.
(Reporting by Matteo Civillini; editing by Joe Lo)