Billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced a new $285 million commitment to help clean energy industries scale up to meet rapidly growing power demand, with a focus on helping renewable energy industries to mature rapidly to compete with the political influence and financing and institutional capabilities of their fossil fuel counterparts.
According to Bloomberg, the new commitment is targeted at assisting national clean energy industries across emerging and developing economies “to play a more influential role in the energy planning, financing, and market decisions that have traditionally been dominated by incumbent energy interests.”
The new commitment will focus on assisting national clean energy industries across emerging and developing economies “to play a more influential role in the energy planning, financing, and market decisions that have traditionally been dominated by incumbent energy interests,” by building institutional strength, technical capacity, market expertise, and analytical capabilities.
The announcement marks the latest in a long series of moves by Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and former New York City mayor, to focus on addressing climate change and advance the energy transition through his philanthropic arm, Bloomberg Philanthropies. The organization first supported the Beyond Coal campaign in the U.S. in 2011, then expanded internationally in 2017, and has contributed to the cancellation of nearly 450 coal plants across four continents. Following President Trump’s withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in early 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies committed to help cover some of the U.S.’ key obligations under the agreement, including its funding for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the U.S.’ reporting commitments.
The commitment forms part of £400 million (USD$530 million) in climate and environmental initiatives expected to be announced this week by Bloomberg Philanthropies during London Climate Action Week.
According to Bloomberg, the new funding commitment comes as clean energy has emerged as the cheapest source of new power globally, yet the relatively early stage of industry players is challenging the sector’s capability to keep pace with soaring electricity demand, with the clean energy industry in many markets remaining “under-resourced relative to incumbent energy sectors that have spent decades building political influence, technical expertise, financing networks, and institutional power.”
In order to close the maturity gap with the energy incumbents, the new funding will target countries responsible for nearly 70% of global power sector emissions, focusing on aspects including strengthening clean energy industry associations and regional networks to better participate in energy planning, financing, and market design, supporting data, economic analysis, and technical research that demonstrate how clean energy can deliver reliable, affordable power at scale, providing technical assistance to help governments and regulators create market conditions that accelerate clean energy investment and deployment, and partnering with financial institutions and investors to help unlock private capital for clean energy infrastructure.
Bloomberg said:
“Clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in virtually every part of the world, and as a result, its share of global power production is growing. But fixable obstacles are still slowing down deployment – and with energy demand rising at an unprecedented speed, we can’t allow those obstacles to continue standing in the way of lower energy costs for households and businesses, and cleaner air and water for communities. This new investment will help ensure they don’t.”
