Bloomberg Philanthropies founder Michael R. Bloomberg has announced that the foundation will work to move the world past coal using a two-pronged approach that reduces political, technical, and financial barriers to the energy transition. 

Announced during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, the new approach includes working with national and local governments across the Global South to develop energy transition plans, implement the necessary public policies, and provide the skills and training to accelerate clean energy development and phase out fossil fuel use. The second prong includes partnering with the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to help mobilize the flow of private capital to clean energy transition projects in emerging markets and developing countries.

According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, roughly 770 million people—primarily across Africa and Asia—lack access to electricity. As countries across the Global South develop economically and their energy demands grow, use of clean energy will be crucial to meeting international climate goals. To advance that effort, Bloomberg Philanthropies is working with Sustainable Energy for All and other partners across 25 countries to develop energy transition plans that use robust data and analysis to chart a credible pathway toward achieving universal energy access by 2030 for a just and equitable net-zero future. 

“We’ve helped to close more than two-thirds of coal plants in the U.S. and put more than half of Europe’s on track for retirement–and we need to make progress like that all around the world. Doing it—and overcoming the hurdles that stand in the way of investment—requires partnership across government, business, and philanthropy,” said Bloomberg. “It also requires technical assistance and economic and policy analysis—the side of energy development that doesn’t get a lot of attention but can mean the difference between investment in coal and clean power. That’s what we’ve been providing to a variety of countries around the world, and the expansion of our work in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will help more countries develop more clean power, faster.”

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