Mr Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing the United States and the world. He has long been dedicated to the global fight against climate change, serving as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and tackling the issue as a key focus area of his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. He also serves as the World Health Organization Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries.
In 1981, with a vision for an information technology company that would bring greater transparency and fairness to the financial system, Mr Bloomberg launched a small startup in a one-room office. Bloomberg has grown every year since it was founded and today employs 20,000 people in some 120 countries.
Just weeks after the attacks of 11 September 2001, Mr Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City and led the city’s recovery and resurgence. He turned around a failing school system, fought poverty with new programmes, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40%. His administration’s groundbreaking sustainability plan reduced carbon emissions by 13%, positioning the city as a model for climate action around the world.
Through Bloomberg Philanthropies, he supports work across five key focus areas: the environment, education, public health, the arts, and government innovation. As part of his environmental efforts, the Beyond Coal campaign has helped to retire more than 65% of all United States coal plants since 2011. In 2017, he expanded the effort to Europe, where Europe Beyond Coal has retired 50% of the continent’s plants. In 2019, he launched Beyond Carbon, the largest-ever coordinated campaign to take on the climate crisis in the United States.
Mr Bloomberg also serves as President of the Board of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and co-chairs the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and the America Is All In coalition. He also created the American Cities Climate Challenge to help the largest cities in the United States make more progress in reducing carbon emissions in support of the Paris Agreement goals.
He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren.