We Are Still In is a coalition of state and local governments, businesses, investors, universities, and other organizations created by the left-of-center Bloomberg Philanthropies to support the Paris Climate Accords, an environmentalist agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, not submitted to the United States Senate for ratification, and repudiated by the Trump administration. ¹

It is related to “America’s Pledge,” another Bloomberg-backed entity supporting the accords.² According to the coalition, We Are Still In is “an initiative administered by World Wildlife Fund, Climate Nexus, and Ceres, the organizations responsible for driving coalition strategy and managing day to day efforts.”³

 

Overview

Formed in June of 2017 in protest of President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, We Are Still In is a left-of-center “pop up” created by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the philanthropic arm of billionaire former New York Mayor and unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. Efforts are focused on gaining signatories to a declaration that commits them to carbon-emission-reduction targets set in the Paris Climate Accords and establishes voluntary tracking of progress towards the goals. ⁴

Signatories include businesses, investors, cities, counties, colleges, health care organizations, faith groups, states, and tribes that represent $9.5 trillion of the U.S. economy. ⁵ Those supporting We Are Still In’s declaration include the states of California, New York, and Oregon; the University of California System; and major corporations including Nestle, Unilever, Apple Microsoft, and Twitter. ⁵

Coordinating organizations beyond Bloomberg Philanthropies include the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, Climate Mayors, Environmental Entrepreneurs, and the American Sustainable Business Council. ^{2 6}

On November 30, 2019 Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appeared at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Madrid and proclaimed that “we’re still in” and gave an exclusive interview to Bloomberg Environment prior to her appearance. ^{7 8}

Leadership

The We Are Still In campaign is led by former California Governor Jerry Brown (D) and Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate, founder of Bloomberg LP and benefactor of Bloomberg Philanthropies. ⁹

Finances

We Are Still In backed by a $70 million commitment from Bloomberg Philanthropies for it and America’s Pledge. another left-of-center pop up created by Michael Bloomberg to advance environmentalist activism. ¹⁰

According to the coalition, We Are Still In is “an initiative administered by World Wildlife Fund, Climate Nexus, and Ceres, the organizations responsible for driving coalition strategy and managing day to day efforts.”³

1. Perkins, Madeleine Sheehan. “A Group Representing $6.2 Trillion of the US Economy Says They’re ‘Still in’ the Paris Climate Agreement.” Business Insider. Business Insider, June 5, 2017. https://www.businessinsider.com/we-are-still-in-group-represents-62-trillion-of-the-us-economy-plans-to-stay-in-paris-agreement-2017-6?op=1.
2. “About.” Home. Accessed March 24, 2020. https://www.wearestillin.com/about.
3. “About.” We Are Still In. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.wearestillin.com/about.
4. Gunaratna, Shanika. “‘We Are Still in’: Tech Giants Join Effort to Honor Paris Climate Deal.” CBS News. CBS Interactive, June 6, 2017. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-climate-agreement-tech-giants-apple-amazon-google-cities-states/.
5. “Who’s In.” We Are Still In. Accessed March 24, 2020. https://www.wearestillin.com/signatories.
6. “Accelerating Corporate Leadership on Climate and Energy.” WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Accessed March 24, 2020. https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/accelerating-corporate-leadership-on-climate-and-energy.
7. “Pelosi, Democrats Assure U.N. Climate Meeting That U.S. ‘Is Still In’.” U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report. Accessed March 24, 2020. https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2019-12-02/pelosi-democrats-assure-united-nations-climate-meeting-that-us-is-still-in.
8. “Speaker Pelosi Leads Delegation to Madrid Climate Conference.” Bloomberg BNA News. Accessed March 24, 2020. https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/speaker-pelosi-leads-delegation-to-madrid-climate-conference.
9. “About.” Americas Pledge On Climate. Accessed March 25, 2020. https://www.americaspledgeonclimate.com/about/.
10. “Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces the American Cities Climate Challenge to Support Mayors Tackling Climate Change in the United States.” Bloomberg Philanthropies. Accessed March 25, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.org/press/releases/american-cities-climate-challenge/.