UN chief reappoints billionaire Michael Bloomberg as climate envoy

BERLIN: The United Nations says American billionaire Michael Bloomberg has been reappointed as a special envoy to engage governments and businesses in tackling the threat of global warming.

Bloomberg, who has long campaigned on the issue of climate change, was first tapped for the position in 2018.

The UN said on Friday (Feb 5) that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants the former New York mayor to “mobilise stronger and more ambitious climate action” in the lead-up to a November global climate summit.

The summit, delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, is seen as a key moment in the international effort to curb man-made climate change six years after the creation of the Paris accord.

The 2015 treaty commits countries to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions so temperatures don't rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century compared to pre-industrial times.

Guterres has called on leaders to put their economies on a path to stop adding further planet-warming gases to the atmosphere by 2050.

Bloomberg “will engage government officials and members of the private sector and civil society to finalize and implement plans, particularly in high-emitting countries, industries and sectors, to vastly accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy,” the UN said.