Press Release: Clinton Global Initiative Day Two Total – 139 Commitments, Almost $6 billion

Former President Jimmy Carter, Ernesto Zedillo (Former President of Mexico), Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner), Lance Armstrong and Don Cheadle Participate in Working Groups.

Thirty-two commitments were made during the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) totaling over $3.6 billion. The two-day total of over $5.7 billion in commitments eclipses the previous year’s total of $2.5 billion.

President Clinton joined Richard Branson and other business and community leaders at a morning press conference where Mr. Branson committed all profits from Virgin Group’s airline and train businesses to funding renewable and green energy initiatives over the next ten years, a commitment estimated at $3 billion.

President Clinton announced some of the day’s commitments at the second plenary session this afternoon. The session, entitled Building a Sustainable Future, was attended by panelists John Chambers (President & CEO, Cisco Systems) Al Gore (former Vice President of the United States and Chairman of Generation Investment Management), Klaus Kleinfeld (President & CEO Siemens AG), and Deng Nan (Co-Chair of the Board of Councilors for the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development). Peter Goldmark (Program Director of Environmental Defense) moderated the discussion.

Additional commitments were announced during today’s eight CGI Working Sessions. Former President Jimmy Carter, Ernesto Zedillo (Former President of Mexico), Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner), Lance Armstrong and Don Cheadle were some of the participants in the Working Groups.

CGI Commitments announced today were:

CLIMATE CHANGE

Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)
This commitment will ensure $500,000 is spent over a year installing solar water pumping and small-scale irrigation systems in the Kalalé District of Benin. The solar powered pumps will replace fossil-fuel-burning generators with effective, sustainable and affordable energy. The project—which will eventually extend to 44 villages—will allow farmers to grow crops in the dry season and nearly double Kalalé District’s growing season.

Interface, Inc.
Interface is committed to becoming a carbon free company by 2020 at a cost of $8.8 million. The company will reduce CO2 emissions by 6.7 percent each year; reaching net zero emissions by 2020. Emissions will be eliminated from all aspects of the company’s operations leading to a cumulative reduction of 1.5 million metric tons of CO 2.

Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) and Goldman Sachs
Woods Hole Research Center and Goldman Sachs will commit $1 million over 3 years to fund the costs of running a project to employ an ecologist and an economist to study the economic value of ecosystems at WHRC. The project seeks to address the undervaluing of ecosystems and find ways of reflecting the true market costs of ecosystems making it possible to consider the true costs of environmental damage.

Parsons & Whittemore Enterprises
Parsons & Whitemore will construct a plant that will produce approximately 40 million gallons a year of U.S. soybean oil as an environmentally friendly fuel to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The plant aims to produce 20 million gallons of alternative fuel by April 2007. The project will be worth $15 million over 1 year and, if successful, similar plants will be built in other parts of the U.S.

ABN AMRO Bank
ABN AMRO commits to creating a renewable energy private equity fund to make major investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies. The fund is global in focus, with a target market of OECD countries and select emerging markets. ABN AMRO will invest up to $63 million each year for its own account with the remaining funds to be raised from institutional investors, for a minimum fund size of $190 million. The Fund will seek to measure CO2 reduction created by its investments.

Josh Fink
Deforestation and land-use change are the second leading cause of global warming. They account for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gases and for 33 percent of the emissions from developing nations. To combat this deteriorating situation, Josh Fink is committing at least $50,000 along with time and personal resources to tackle deforestation in the developing world.

Figueres Consulting
Figueres Consulting commits to registering at least five programmatic Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Latin America, Asia and Africa in the next year. The CDM is designed to make it easier and less costly for industrialized countries to meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that they agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol by investing in emission reductions projects in the developing world. The CDM is also mandated to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable growth; according to the 2005 United Nations World Urbanization Prospects report, 15 of the world’s 20 largest cities by population are located in Latin America, Asia, or Africa.

Center for American Progress
The Center and its partners, Natsource and Alston & Bird, will run a pilot project with the Government of Ethiopia, creating a model applicable to countries throughout the developing world. To date, the multi-billion-dollar carbon-emissions trade has been centered on major emerging economies. The Center’s commitment will help the poorest countries take advantage of the Clean Development Mechanism. The Center will assess Ethiopia’s carbon assets, and will help the government attract investors under the Clean Development Mechanism by identifying measures to reduce risk in carbon offset investments.

GLOBAL HEALTH

• Kaiser Family Foundation/HBO/Caribbean Braodcasting
  In an effort to encourage HIV testing among young people in Africa and the Caribbean, HBO, 70 top African and Caribbean broadcast companies, and the Kaiser Family Foundation have partnered to produce a set of TV and radio public service ads featuring high-profile, entertainment personalities. HBO has pledged up to $500,000 to cover production costs, while the African and Caribbean broadcasters have contributed the airtime and the Kaiser Family Foundation will provide substantive and messaging support. The ads will debut across 46 African and Caribbean countries on World AIDS Day 2006.

   

  The Follieri Foundation
  The Follieri Foundation has committed $1 million to vaccinate 10,000 children in Honduras from Hepatitis A in 2006, with the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty and significantly improving the condition of children’s health, housing, and education throughout the world. Raffaello Follieri, Founder and President of the Follieri Foundation, was inspired to make this commitment as a result his participation in the inaugural meeting Clinton Global Initiative, during which he committed to bringing 1000 Hepatitis A vaccines to children in San Marcos, Nicaragua.

  Teva
  Over three years Teva will commit $5 million together with other NGOs to ensure the delivery and use of antibiotics to treat lower respiratory infections, especially pneumonia. The project will target an estimated 500,000 people in North-eastern Brazil including a preventative education program. The project will train healthcare workers to educate the public about the importance of nutrition, breastfeeding, vaccination, and avoiding smoke.

  OneWorld Health
  This project aims to raise over $27 million over five years to develop a comprehensive model to treat patients with the parasitic disease Visceral Leishmaniasis. The project will initially run in India and expand to Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Brazil. Clinical studies by OneWorld Health concluded that antibiotic Paromomycin is a safe and effective way to cure the deadly parasitic disease; the project will develop an effective network to distribute the drug in remote rural areas.

  World Diabetes Foundation
  Over three to four years the Foundation will spend $813,000 to establish three new projects to prevent and treat diabetes in South Africa as part of an effort to curb diabetes in the developing world. WDF will also develop a strategy for the early treatment of HIV/AIDS and a health nutrition program to reduce the number of cases of diabetes.

  Ovations, part of the UnitedHealth Group
  Working with a range of organizations, Ovations will launch Centers of Excellence worldwide for increased prevention, treatment and awareness of chronic diseases. As part of this effort in the spring of 2007, Ovations will convene a summit of experts on chronic diseases to define priorities and identify the most effective procedures. Ovations will also use their communications expertise to develop public awareness of chronic diseases.

  Proctor & Gamble
  Proctor & Gamble is committing $5 million over three years to bring 35 million liters of safe drinking water to more than 1 million African children through water purification and improved sanitation in schools. P&G has joined with the social marketing firm, PSI, and several other groups in an effort to bring a scalable and sustainable intervention to the clinically proven approach of household water treatment. Following initial social marketing efforts in Uganda and Haiti, P&G will significantly expand the social marketing to Malawi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Botswana, Pakistan, and Indonesia during this year.

  Siemens
  Siemens will work closely with the Chinese Ministry of Health, and invest $10 million to bring diagnostic equipment to one Chinese hospital or clinic each year for the next five years. With this technology the institutions will be able to diagnose and treat patients accurately and efficiently. The hospitals and clinics will also be able to track disease prevalence in their communities with greater accuracy, allowing more focused health interventions in the future.

  Deutsche Bank
  Partnering with Ashoka and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Deutsche Bank will invest $20 million over the next 6 years to establish the Eye Fund I. The Fund will provide loans to build eye-care facilities to care fore treatable and preventable eye problems. The Fund will also give grants to fund the technology and business planning that eye-care facilities need to be effective. Investors in the Eye Fund I will earn near-market returns, while helping to solve the serious problem of inadequate eye-care facilities.

  Africare
  Africare is committing $2 million over two years to provide HIV/AIDS-affected households in five African countries with home-based care, support services, and improved water, sanitation and hygiene. In cases where clean water is not accessible, the project will provide purification services. The project will train home-care providers in hygiene and will promote preventive health care measures such as immunization and the use of insecticide-treated bed nets.

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

• Standard Chartered PLC
  Beginning in October 2006, Standard Chartered Bank will provide development organizations and fund managers in 16 countries across Africa and Asia with $500 million to use to finance microfinance institutions (MFIs). This funding will be distributed in $100 million increments over the course of five years and will benefit 4 million people across Africa and Asia, who are currently excluded from participation in the financial sector. The Bank also aims to support capacity-building programs for MFIs and skills development for loan recipients in these countries.

   

  Sustainable South Bronx, Bradco Supply
  Sustainable South Bronx and Bradco Supply commit $500,000 a year for five years towards training and managing the “Greenway Stewards” – South Bronx community members who will manage and protect new greenway areas in the slowly revitalizing community. Sustainable South Bronx will train six to ten Greenway Stewards to begin maintenance work on Barretto Point Park and Hunts Point Riverside Park (opening fall 2006). The South Bronx Greenway Stewards will serve as a replicable model for the City of New York and other urban areas.

  The Benetech Initiative
  Benetech is committing $1.4 million to expanding Bookshare.org, its digital library with almost 30,000 Braille and talking books, to serve a global audience. Partnering with libraries in India and other countries, Benetech will work with publishers and authors to harness the power of modern technology to put information into the hands of those who need it most.

  Microfinance Opportunities
  Microfinance Opportunities and Freedom from Hunger will invest $3 million over the next three years to develop a curriculum for low-income populations in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The program will use a variety of media channels to familiarize participants with basic financial services, including electronic banking, ATMs and credit/debit cards. This knowledge can then be used to tap into microfinance programs.

  CIVICUS
  CIVICUS is investing $1 million to raise awareness of civic space available for civil society actors. The Civic Space Barometer will make use of a range of credible research materials to profile the current status of civic space in countries around the world and identify future threats to civil society.

  The Wolfensohn Center
  Young people aged 15-24 account for 22 percent of the Middle East’s total population and youth unemployment in the region stands at 25 percent. The Wolfensohn Center for Development commits $1.8 million over the next two years to bring together academics, policy makers, donors and civil society in Egypt, Iran, Syria and Morocco to look at the why young people are lagging in Middle Eastern Society.

  Fundación Alfa
  Fundación Alfa, Mexico’s leading producer of refrigerated food is investing $600,000 to create a scalable pilot program for creating food related businesses in low-income areas in Mexico. This project will target families in 30 communities, preparing them to create food-related businesses. Fundación Alfa will provide motivational training, entrepreneurial skills, guidance in securing loans and building a business plan, and logistical support to overcome refrigeration and storage challenges.

  The Microcredit Summit Campaign
  The campaign will train the world’s largest microfinance institutions to use poverty measurement tools to measure the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day. With better measurement tools, policy-makers around the world will be able to measure progress on poverty reduction, and to better assess which interventions are working; ensuring evidence-based policy making. The costs of the project run to $922,000 over 6 years.

  Operation HOPE
  CIDA University and the City of Wellington will provide $40,000 for Operation HOPE to develop a program to deliver free financial-literacy education for youths in Johannesburg and Wellington, South Africa. The $250,000 program will be focused on providing services in urban, under-served districts. The program aims to reach 1,000 students during the pilot, and ultimately to execute a nationwide delivery system for financial literacy education.

  Endeavor
  Partnering with global corporations to attack the root causes of poverty Endeavor will raise $15 million over three years to increase opportunity and social mobility by supporting entrepreneurs in the developing world. Through mentor programs, workshops and fellowships Endeavor will train the next generation of entrepreneurs. Starting initially in eight countries in South America, Africa and Europe the project will eventually expand to other emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

  Supporters of the Education for Children in Refugee and Conflict Situations Initiative
  Thanks to funding from a number of different sources the initiative will ensure children and young people affected by conflict, internal displacement and refugee status are not denied their fundamental human right to education. The commitment for educational loans is worth $2.65 million. The first project, funded by the NoVo Foundation, will commit to build sustainable educational opportunities for youth in conflict situations in West Africa.

MITIGATION OF RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC CONFLICT

Jonathan M. Tisch
In 2005, Jonathan Tisch pledged $40 million to Tufts University to permanently finance the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service with the goals of preparing students in all fields of study for lifetimes of active citizenship. Tisch College aims to infuse values and skills of active citizenship into all academic programs of Tufts University, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this innovative model to other institutions of higher education. In its short history, Tisch College has become the new “gold standard” in university civic engagement work. Through Tisch College, Tufts is providing leadership in reclaiming the civic mission of higher education.

Interfaith Youth Core
Interfaith is partnering with James Jensen to commit $120,000 over the next 15 months to create a professional video that documents IFYC’s year-long interfaith youth leadership exchange program between Chicago’s IFYC and Jordan’s Interfaith Action in Amman. The film will show the exchanges taking place between program participants as they perform service work demonstrating the value of empowering youth as religious peace-builders.

Putumayo World Music
Putumayo World Music commits to giving Search for Common Ground $1 from every copy it sells of the CD One World, Many Cultures – a multicultural collaboration between some of the worlds leading musicians. Search for Common Ground will use this money to fund new programs promoting the arts and helping people from diverse backgrounds build new relationships together.

Mr. Cornelius B. and Mrs. Gertrude Prior
To establishing an Abrahamic Partnerships endowment that will secure a Jewish professorship focused on Jewish tradition and Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations and an enduring Building Abrahamic Partnerships (BAP) program at Hartford Seminary. First launched in 2004, BAP is developing a new kind of religious leadership. BAP prepares clergy for interfaith ministry and for addressing religious diversity. The endowment will secure a professorship and will maintain the current annual enrollment goals of 30 participants, drawn equally from the three faith traditions.

International Medical Corps (IMC)
IMC will develop much needed mental health services to address mental illnesses causes as a result of religious and ethnic conflict in Darfur, Sudan and eastern Chad, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Running by June 2007 t he programs will cost $3.25 million over one year to target former child soldiers and victims of slavery, sexual abuse and forced marriage helping them to fully recuperate from the affects of conflict.

Economic Cooperation Foundation
The Foundation will spend $5 million over two years to lead to a substantial upgrading of the Gaza Strip’s agricultural processes. The project will forge Israeli-Palestinian partnerships to secure passage for goods being brought into and out of the Gaza Strip. The Foundation estimates returns from Gaza’s flori-horticulture exports could grow from $65 million to $1 billion within 3 years.

PAN Network
PAN, together with the Young Presidents’ Organization, the Sager Family Foundation and the World Presidents’ Organization, will bring together Israeli and Palestinian business leaders at two conferences to explore potential economic partnerships. The $200,000 commitment will also enable spouses to attend both conferences ensuring the project develops strong personal relationships between families in both countries, as well as effective business ties.

Family Foundation through The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Partnering with Yemin Order Initiatives, the foundation will invest $250,000 in the first year to form the Agahozo-Shalom Village, a place for orphaned children in Rwanda to give traumatized youth a safe and structured community. The basis for the model is the concept of the Village as home, providing children with a holistic and protective environment, thus helping them to overcome trauma and abandonment. The ultimate goal is to have the village run, staffed, populated and eventually financially supported by Rwandans.

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