Bill Clinton & Mike Bloomberg Merge Climate Programs

Bill Clinton & Michael Bloomberg
[photo Edward Reed/NYC Mayor Office]

Former President Bill Clinton joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday at Gracie Mansion to announce the merger of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and the Cities Program of Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI).

C40 is a global coalition of large cities that cooperate to address energy and climate change issues. C40 was established in 2006; Mayor Bloomberg is the current chairman.

CCI is a program of the William J. Clinton Foundation established by President Clinton to reduce poverty, promote health, bolster economies, and protect the environment.

The belief that cities play a driving force in addressing climate change motivated the merger decision, stated both Clinton and Bloomberg. The merger streamlines and enhances the work of the two organizations that share a common mission in mobilizing cities to tackle climate change.  The C40-CCI partnership enhances the new organization’s resources and infrastructure and boosts its efforts to play a prominent role in global climate change matters.

The outcome for the C40 is three-fold. C40 will increase the number of participating cities, double its budget, and restructure the organization so that cities can share best practices more effectively and undertake climate change issues together.

Bloomberg provided examples of different climate change initiatives in global cities such as Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, London, and included New York City’s efforts to combat climate change. (The Epoch Times, 4/13/2011)