In the studies conducted by the foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies has found out that 60% of the deaths worldwide are caused by tobacco-related diseases. To create the biggest impact, Bloomberg Philanthropies placed itself in countries with the largest smoking population.
In order to encourage others to innovate, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Mayors Challenge in 2013 to challenge US cities to find solutions applicable anywhere. One of the five winners was Chicago and the city received $1 million which will be used in the implementation of an open-source, real time analytics platform. The city officials used the data points in proactively dealing with the city’s issues on traffic emergencies, healthcare and even the weather. Bloomberg Philanthropies will move the competition to European cities this year.
In January 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed to a five-year, $53 million program that would address overfishing in Brazil, Chile and Philippines. To date, this program is the largest philanthropic activity aimed to reform international fisheries management. The success of this effort will rejuvenate 7% of the world’s fisheries. More importantly, this program will create a prototype that would preserve the decreasing fish supply worldwide.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is also actively involved in efforts to combat climate change and move toward promoting clean energy sources. In 2011 for instance, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Beyond Coal combined for $50 million to shut down a number of coal-fired power plants. Bloomberg Philanthropies and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group are working together to minimize carbon emissions in the major cities worldwide. The foundation also donated $6 million to the Environmental Defense Fund in 2012 to help in the creation of firm state-level regulations for hydraulic fracturing.
Bloomberg Philanthropies was established by Michael Bloomberg and is based in New York City.