Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Vibrant Oceans Initiative Reaches Crucial Milestone for Marine Conservation with Enactment of Fiji’s National Ocean Policy
June 2, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Vibrant Oceans Initiative (VOI) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are celebrating the adoption of an ambitious National Ocean Policy in Fiji earlier this year. With this policy, supported additionally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), VOI has reached its goal of supporting science-backed fisheries and marine conservation policies in at least ten countries by 2022, one year ahead of schedule. Since its inception in 2012, VOI has now supported the protection of nearly 7 million square miles of ocean across the world.
Read moreBrussels Launches Europe’s Largest Citizen Science Project on Air Quality
May 22, 2021
Launched today, CurieuzenAir is the largest citizen science project on air quality ever carried out in Brussels. This pioneering project will mobilize thousands of citizens to map the air quality levels across the Brussels-Capital Region with professional guidance by scientists. The launch coincides with the lead-up to the EU Green Week 2021. The initiative is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Brussels Clean Air Partnership.
Read moreJohns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies Announce the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, a $150 Million Effort to Fuel Diversity in STEM Fields
May 11, 2021
Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the launch of the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative devoted to addressing historic underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, and preparing a new, more diverse generation of researchers and scholars to assume leadership roles in tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges. The $150 million effort funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies will be endowed to create additional pathways for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to pursue and receive PhDs in STEM fields.
Read moreBloomberg Philanthropies Funds COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach Efforts of 18 Cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
May 6, 2021
As mayors around the world grapple with implementing equitable COVID-19 vaccination programs for their citizens, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced grants to 18 cities in low- and middle-income countries to support their planning for vaccine distribution rollouts with an emphasis on reaching high-risk populations.
Read moreTackling Air Pollution Around Parisian Schools: The City of Paris, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Airparif Release Air Quality Findings, Commit to Expanding Partnership
May 5, 2021
The City of Paris and Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with Airparif, released the results of an ongoing collaboration aimed at improving the understanding of air quality by piloting the use of low-cost sensors to monitor air pollution. Launched in June 2019, the study observed 44 Paris schools, daycare centers and their neighboring streets from September 2019 to September 2020. The pilot project has provided important learnings on how lower-cost micro-sensors can complement the city’s existing air quality monitoring network, alongside other tools, like passive tubes.
Read more631 Cities from 99 Countries Enter Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Global Mayors Challenge
April 20, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that 631 cities from 99 countries have entered the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge, an ideas competition to uncover and support the 50 most innovative solutions developed by cities in the wake of COVID-19. The Challenge was launched in January 2021 and will select 50 Champion Cities from among the hundreds of worldwide applications to test their ideas for several months this year. Fifteen grand prize winners will then be named in December 2021, each of which will receive $1 million to implement their breakthrough ideas and spread them to other cities globally.
Read moreThe Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity Established at Princeton University Through Major Gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies
April 19, 2021
With the goal of enhancing and expanding Princeton University’s fundamental commitment to the college success of talented students from first-generation, lower-income and underrepresented backgrounds, Bloomberg Philanthropies will establish the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity. The Center will bring together the University’s nation-leading initiatives in college access and opportunity, serve as a hub for research and innovation in the field of college access and success, and inform and strengthen similar efforts at colleges and universities across the country.
Read moreCarbon Mapper Launches Satellite Program to Pinpoint Methane and CO2 Super Emitters
April 15, 2021
Carbon Mapper, a new nonprofit organization, announced a pioneering program to help improve understanding of and accelerate reductions in global methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition, the Carbon Mapper consortium announced its plan to deploy a ground-breaking hyperspectral satellite constellation with the ability to pinpoint, quantify and track methane and CO2 emissions.
Read moreBloomberg Philanthropies Commits Over $6 Million to Increase Mobile Unit COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts by America’s Four Historically Black Medical Schools in Black Communities
April 13, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced it will provide more than $6 million collectively to the nation’s four historically Black medical schools to expand their mobile unit COVID-19 vaccine operations in their local communities of Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California. Bloomberg Philanthropies is deepening its partnership with Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as equity and public health advocates have signaled the need for trusted vaccine administrators to combat lack of access and vaccine hesitancy within Black and medically underserved communities.
Read more50% of All Coal Plants in Europe Set to Close, Marking Major Milestone in Phase Out of Coal in Europe by 2030
March 23, 2021
Bloomberg Philanthropies and Europe Beyond Coal announced that 162 of Europe’s 324 coal plants have closed or confirmed pre-2030 retirements, marking the halfway point in the campaign to retire all coal plants on the continent by 2030 at the latest. This is a major milestone ahead of this year’s U.N. Climate Summit, COP26, and demonstrates the global momentum in the transition away from fossil fuels consistent with the United Nations Secretary-General’s call to phase-out coal in OECD countries by 2030 and everywhere else by 2040.
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