Clinton Global Environment Initiative Commits Billions

Clinton Global Environment Initiative Commits Billions



2007 September -   Today in New York, the 
opening day of the third annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, 
CGI, brought together some 1,000 leaders of business, government and 
nongovernmental organizations from over 70 countries, including 52 current 
and former heads of state, who made commitments focusing on the 
Initiative's four focus areas: education, energy and climate change, 
global health and poverty alleviation. 
Former President Bill Clinton established the CGI on the premise that the 
world is faced with complex problems that government either is not solving 
or that government alone cannot solve. People attend the meetings, learn 
more about a given issue, and then decide to take action.

Clinton welcomed his guests by telling them that since the first CGI 
meeting, "More than 600 commitments have been made by hundreds and 
hundreds of participants in these CGI sessions, impacting tens of millions 
of lives and more than 100 countries. Among the things which have come out 
of the commitments made and kept: 20 million tons of greenhouse gas 
emissions have been avoided, more than 850,000 children under the age of 
five have received life saving health services, three million more 
micro-entrepreneurs have accessed the capital." 
To start the ball rolling, Clinton announced a commitment worth two 
million dollars by a group of financial services corporations to provide 
essential humanitarian aid by air lift to Chad and Darfur to directly 
reach those affected by the ongoing conflict. The first four flights will 
be completed by the end of 2007, the second four by April. 
Clinton also highlighted the commitment of Florida Power and Light to 
build new solar electricity plants in Florida, to provide customers with 
information on reducing their carbon imprint, and to giv them a way to do 
it. The commitment is worth $2.4 billion for 2012. The company will build 
500 megawatts of new solar energy generating capacity, with an expected 
reduction in CO2 emissions of more than two million tons over five years. 
Clinton invited Al Gore, his former vice president, to speak about climate 
change, and Gore said the world is already at a crisis point. 
"There should be no mistake that this crisis, the climate crisis, is not 
going to be solved only by personal action and business action. We need 
changes in laws, we need changes in policies, we need leadership, and we 
need a new treaty, we need a mandate at Bali, during the first 14 days of 
December this year, to complete a treaty, not by 2012, but by 2009, and 
put it completely into force by 2010. We can do it and we must do it," 
Gore said.

"Now two things happened last week that were particularly important," said 
Gore. "Number one, five days ago, at the time of the equinox when the warm 
half of the year in the northern hemisphere ended, there was the official 
measurement of the maximum extent to which the ice of the north polar ice 
cap had melted. It not only set an all time record low, it was 22 percent 
below the previous record, an extra one million square miles melted, there 
are only 1.6 million square miles left." 
"What it means is that the entire north polar ice cap could be completely 
gone in less than 23 years. And if it goes, it won't come back in millions 
of years," Gore warned. 
"What this means, ladies and gentlemen, and particularly, all these heads 
of state and business leaders here, we face a genuine planetary emergency, 
we cannot just talk about it, we have to act on it, and we have to solve 
it urgently." 
The other important event last week was that the world celebrated the 20th 
anniversary of a success story - the Montreal Protocol, ratified when 
Ronald Reagan was president, which has been effective in reducing the 
emission of ozone-destroying chemicals. 
Gore said, "I would like to call on President [George W.] Bush to follow 
President Reagan's example, and listen to those among his advisors who 
know that we have to have binding reductions in CO2, we have to put a 
price on carbon, and the United States of America has to lead the world to 
solve the climate crisis. 
Gore said the effort to solve the climate crisis is actually the key to 
giving humanity the ability to successfully address these other crises, 
whether its religious strife, or the effort against global poverty, or HIV 
AIDS, or any of the others. 
"When people from different points of view with different experiences have 
a shared goal that is urgent, that's connected to their survival, they 
find the ability to put their differences aside and work together. We've 
seen it time and time again, sometimes in war, sometimes in peace. This is 
an emergency." 
By the end of the first day, over 40 commitments in education, global 
health, energy and climate change and poverty alleviation had been 
announced. 
Actor Brad Pitt is expanding his commitment to New Orleans' Lower Ninth 
Ward with his Make it Right project to create a community of 150 
affordable and sustainable homes in one of the areas hardest hit by 
Hurricane Katrina. Pitt and his partner Steve Bing are challenging members 
of the Clinton Global Initiative to join them in rebuilding the Lower 
Ninth Ward by each pledging to match $5 million in contributions to the 
Make it Right project, for a total of $10 million. 
"The heart and soul of New Orleans, specifically the people of the Lower 
9th Ward, are paramount to this project," said Pitt. "The words of one 
elderly man who is determined to return to New Orleans led to the name of 
our organization: he asked us, directly simply and profoundly, to help 
make it right. So that's what we're doing. We're going to help to make it 
right with 150 sustainable, affordable houses - houses that stand out for 
their design both aesthetically and structurally, so that these people can 
live in beautiful safe structures that respect their spirit and provide a 
good quality of life."
 
Many other donors targeted environmental problems with their 
contributions.

  1Sky
  
  Working with partners 1Sky will raise $50 million to advocate for a 
  simple set of goals and policy proposals to improve the federal 
  government's policies on climate change. All partners working in this 
  coalition are committed to making the U.S. government develop climate 
  change targets that match those of the European Union. The EU is 
  committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent compared to 
  1990 levels. 

  Proctor & Gamble: Children's Safe Drinking Water
  
  Proctor & Gamble, working with partner organizations in the Children's 
  Safe Drinking Water program, will provide sachets to purify an estimated 
  two billion liters of water. By using the easily accessible system, the 
  program will help prevent 80 million days of diarrhea illness and save 
  10,000 lives by 2012. The $20 million project follows a 2006 commitment 
  by P&G to work with partners to provide safe drinking water and hygiene 
  education to one million children in Africa by 2009. 

  The Dow Chemical Company & WaterHealth International
  
  The Dow Chemical Company will provide $30 million dollars of loan 
  guarantees to support the financing of up to 2,000 community water 
  systems, serving 11 million people in India through WaterHealth 
  International, WHI. For the past two years, WHI has provided 
  sustainable, low cost community based water systems to rural villages in 
  India. WHI has installed 100 systems and partners with local NGOs to 
  provide water and sanitation education. Dow's commitment will help to 
  extend WHI's reach beyond the current projections of 3,000 systems over 
  the next five years. 

  Center for International Forestry Research
  
  The World Bank estimates that 90 percent of the 1.2 billion people who 
  are living in extreme poverty depend on forest resources for some part 
  of their livelihood. With this three-year commitment, CIFOR will spend 
  $6 million to launch Climate Change and Forests Initiative to produce 
  independent and timely analysis of the options for including 
  deforestation into global and national climate policies. A key feature 
  of its research will be a focus on ensuring that the risks of avoided 
  deforestation - known as "reduced emissions from deforestation and 
  degradation" or REDD - are not borne by those least able to afford them. 


  The Coca-Cola Company
  
  Targeting the State of Sao Paulo and working in conjunction with 
  regional NGOs and local farmers, the Coca-Cola Company commits $13.5 
  million to a reforestation project along Brazilian waterways. The 
  project aims to restore 3,000 hectares of tropical rainforest while 
  providing local citizens with employment opportunities in environmental 
  services. The project also aims to eliminate 30 million tons of the 
  greenhouse gas carbon dioxide over 30 years' time. 

  The Wallace Global Fund
  
  The Wallace Global Fund, together with Acción Ecológica, Amazon Watch, 
  Earth Economics, the University of Maryland, the CS Mott Foundation, the 
  Pachamama Alliance and the World Resources Institute are committed to 
  supporting the visionary project of the President of Ecuador Rafael 
  Correa to forego development of the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini oil 
  field, located below Yasuni National Park, the Amazon basin's most 
  biodiverse area of rainforest. 
  By motivating the international community to match Ecuador's commitment 
  to leave nearly one billion barrels of oil in the ground, this 
  commitment helps preserve one of the world's natural treasures and 
  prevent 436 million tons of carbon emissions.
   
  Rainforest Alliance and Gibson Musical Instruments
  
  The Rainforest Alliance will run a $480 million project over five years 
  to support best practice in forestry management in 60 countries. Working 
  with partners they will drive up the use of certified wood products in 
  the paper supply chain and for use in musical instruments. 

  Pratt Industries
  
  In a $1 billion commitment Pratt Industries will build at least three 
  new paper mills, four waste-to-energy plants and 30 materials recovery 
  facilities over the next decade. Working with municipalities and 
  sanitation departments it aims to avoid millions of tons of CO2 
  emissions. 


  Equator Environmental, LLC
  
  Equator Environmental commits $100 million to establish a private equity 
  fund investing in projects that are environmentally friendly, 
  sustainable and directly preserve ecological assets. By monetizing these 
  "eco-products" the fund will enhance the viability of the natural 
  environment and showcase the importance of ecosystem preservation. 


  Green for All
  
  Through the ground-breaking "Green for All" initiative, The Ella Barker 
  Center for Human Rights is committing to help lead 250,000 Americans out 
  of poverty and into "green-collar" jobs. With the continued growth in 
  the building, solar, urban forestry, and bio-fuels sectors, a 
  highly-trained "green-collar" workforce is needed to meet rising demand. 
  Green for All will advocate for a national commitment to greater job 
  training, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities - especially for 
  people from disadvantaged communities. This transition could boost the 
  U.S. economy, generating new opportunities for wealth and work. 


  American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
  
  With funding from Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ACORE is committing to 
  advance a more robust policy and economic case for renewable energy 
  solutions and amplifying influential voices to strengthen public 
  understanding of climate change. The commitment will create RECAP-the 
  Renewable Energy Communications and Policy program-a three-year campaign 
  that will put forward critical policy and economic analysis on energy 
  supply, environment and climate, economic development and jobs, and 
  national security. This unique work builds on ACORE's 2006 commitment to 
  host a world meeting on renewable energy, which has now been 
  successfully funded, and is scheduled to be held as the Washington 
  International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) on March 4-6, 
  2008 in Washington, DC.
  
In addition to announcing major commitments that have the potential to 
impact millions of lives globally, Clinton announced that CGI has 
established MyCommitment.org, an interactive website that allows members 
of the public to make individual commitments. 
MTV and the Clinton Global Initiative will host a roundtable discussion on 
the state of affairs of youth activism later this month in New York City, 
bringing together a panel of that will include President Clinton, Bono, 
Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Shakira, and Christina Norman, president of MTV. 
As part of the special event, "CGI and MTV present: Giving – Live at the 
Apollo," each individual will discuss their efforts to influence change on 
pressing social issues and invite young people to partner with them on a 
new initiative – designed to improve communities nationwide and make a 
difference in the lives of people living in the poorest places on the 
planet. 
The conversation will take place on September 29th at Harlem's historic 
Apollo Theatre and be moderated by MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway. 
"Giving – Live at the Apollo" will also showcase live performances from 
Alicia Keys and Shakira. The discussion and concert will be webcast live 
on Think.MTV.com, ONE.org and keepachildalive.org, with a special on the 
day’s events to be later broadcast on MTV, mtvU and MTV Tr3s. 
The Clinton Global Initiative is a project of the William J. Clinton 
Foundation that brings together a community of global leaders to devise 
and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing 
challenges. 
CGI has approximately 1,000 members, diverse and influential leaders from 
all over the world, who make tangible commitments to create or support 
projects within CGI's areas of focus. 
During the three day annual conferences, attendees are required to make 
specific commitments to address one of the Initiative's four main topics 
and report back to President Clinton on the progress made throughout the 
year. Attendees who do not make or keep their commitments are not invited 
to attend future meetings. 

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