The former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he will write a $4.5m cheque to cover this year’s US commitment to the Paris climate agreement.
Donald Trump last year pulled the US out of the deal, which was signed by Barack Obama, making the US the only country opposed. Even Syria, torn by a seven-year civil war, has signed the pact.
Bloomberg, whose net worth Forbes pegs at about $50bn, was speaking on Earth Day, to CBS’s Face the Nation. He did not commit to provide funds beyond 2018 and said he hoped that by next year Trump would have changed his mind.
“America made a commitment and as an American, if the government’s not going to do it, we all have responsibility,” he said. “I’m able to do it. So, yes, I’m going to send them a cheque for the monies that America had promised to the organization as though they got it from the federal government.”
Trump, he said, should be able to “listen to others and change his mind. A person that doesn’t change their mind isn’t very smart … And he’s been known to change his mind.
“He should change his mind and say look there really is a problem here. America is…
