Bloomberg to pick up US tab for Paris pact

Former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg said on Sunday he will write a $4.5 million check to cover this year's US financial commitment to the Paris Agreement on the global climate.

US President Donald Trump last year pulled the country out of the pact, making the US the only one opposed to it.

Bloomberg, in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation", said he hopes that by next year Trump will have changed his mind.

Trump staunchly opposes the agreement, and his administration has rolled back a number of environmental regulations.

"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accords or really an entire new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States," Trump said on June 1, 2017. "We will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair."

Bloomberg will continue to provide money for the pact if the US does not rejoin the agreement, according to a news release from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charity he founded.

"Our foundation will uphold our promise to cover any cuts to UN climate funding by the federal government," Bloomberg said in the statement.

"America made a commitment, and as an American, if the government's not going to do it, we all have responsibility. I'm able to do it. So, yes, I'm going to send them a check for the monies that America had promised to the organization as though they got it from the federal government," Bloomberg said in the interview.

"It's dangerous to keep doing what we're doing," he said. "If everybody would do the right thing, yes, it would be better. But if some people or some countries do the right thing we all benefit from that."

When asked if Trump would reconsider, Bloomberg said: "He's been known to change his mind. That is true. But he should change his mind and say, look there really is a problem here. America is part of the problem. America is a big part of the solution, and we should go in and help."

"It's not a lot of money. But America made that commitment," he said.

Reuters - China Daily