Bloomberg appointed UN envoy for cities and climate change

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed former New York Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, as UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.

Bloomberg has been a strong advocate for the role of cities in fighting climate change in his capacity as Chair of the C40 Climate Leadership Group of cities. He will carry on working with C40 as President as well as acting as UN Special Envoy for the next two years.

“Cities account for more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions and two-thirds of the world’s energy use today, and their total population is projected to double by 2050 so the steps they take now to combat climate change will have a major impact on the future of our planet,” said Bloomberg. “Cities have shown they have the capacity and the will to meet this challenge and I look forward to working with them and the United Nations to accelerate progress.”

As Special Envoy, Bloomberg will work with mayors to increase their climate change-related commitments and to encourage national governments to do the same. He will also help bring solutions to the 2014 Climate Summit that will be held in New York, September 2014.

As well as his commitment to climate change action, this month Bloomberg pledged US$10 million for a new three-year drive to build media capacity and improve transparency and governance across Africa.

“The initial focus of the $10 million commitment will be on Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Timely and accurate reporting of business and financial matters play a critical role in advancing efficient markets and is a key driver in supporting economic and social growth. Strengthening business and economic news coverage, expanding training programmes for journalists and providing greater access to reliable data about Africa are frequently cited as important enablers to the continent’s continued development.”

The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa will provide cross-disciplinary education programmes and mid-career fellowships to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists. It will also convene pan-African forums to examine worldwide media best practices, and support research to stimulate media innovations.

Bloomberg’s partners are three of the continent’s top education centres: the University of Nairobi School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Strathmore Business School in Kenya; the University of Lagos Department of Mass Communications and the Pan Atlantic University Lagos Business School in Nigeria; and the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies, and the University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa.

“The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa is not only topical, timely, relevant and useful, but it is also contemporary both in structural and conceptual pluralism,” said Dr. Ralph A. Akinfeleye, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Lagos in Nigeria. “By providing rigorous training from best-in-class faculty, media professionals and other stakeholders from the South, East and West African countries, the initiative will positively impact transparency, accountability, good governance and sustainable economic growth on the continent.”

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