Bloomberg delivers US pledge to continue Paris climate goals to UN

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg submitted a statement to the United Nations on Monday that over 1,000 U.S. governors, mayors, businesses, universities and others will continue to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement abandoned by President Donald Trump last week.

Bloomberg, who is the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy for Cities and Climate Change, submitted the "We Are Still In" declaration to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa.

He also launched a process to work with subnational governments and non-state actors to formally quantify the combined - and overlapping - emissions reduction pledges, which will be known as "America's Pledge," and submit the report to the United Nations.

“Today, on behalf of an unprecedented collection of U.S. cities, states, businesses and other organizations, I am communicating to the United Nations and the global community that American society remains committed to achieving the emission reductions we pledged to make in Paris in 2015," Bloomberg said in a statement.

Trump on Thursday pulled the United States from the landmark 2015 agreement designed to fight climate change, fulfilling a major campaign pledge despite entreaties from U.S. allies and corporate leaders.

Signatories to the new initiative include 13 governors, over 200 mayors, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.

(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)