Michael Bloomberg On Climate Change, the Power of Government, and Why He's Still Hopeful About the Future

Originally featured on www.townandcountrymag.com.

We need a hero.” This is what an acquaintance at a dinner party told me last year, by way of explaining why she was so desperate for Michael Bloomberg to enter the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Needless to say, her prayers were not answered—although perhaps a version of them was. Because while the former mayor of New York City abstained from what turned out to be the most shocking race in recent history, his commitment to serving the public is as intense as ever.

In the last few months Bloomberg has doubled down in particular on his initiatives to fight climate change, with a new book (Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet), a new role at the UN, and a global “covenant” among mayors that he’s leading. Here, he discusses what his parents taught him about giving back, the crucial interplay between government and philanthropy, and why the private sector is often too quick to sing its own praises.

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