A billionaire known for funding Extinction Rebellion has also donated to Sadiq Khan’s climate network.
Sir Christopher Hohn, 57, is a prominent financier responsible for The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI), who has cultivated a reputation as an activist investor.
In recent years, he has donated £50,000 to Extinction Rebellion coffers, and TCI has followed with a further £150,000, and the Telegraph has now identified him as a key funder of C40 cities.
The network joins nearly 100 mayors around the world united in combating the climate emergency, with Mr Khan serving as the chair.
New records have uncovered the organisation’s wealthy benefactors, with Sir Christopher and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg sitting among them.
The Telegraph has reported that Sir Christopher has donated £670million to climate campaigns in less than a decade, with £46 million sent to C40.
Funds have also reportedly come via Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the organisation founded and now chaired by Sir Christopher, which has donated nearly $57million (£46.63million) in grants.
And Mr Bloomberg has reportedly donated $45million (£36.82million) to the organisation he once chaired.
He and Mr Bloomberg are “strategic funders” behind the network, which has called for people to eat less meat, reduce their reliance on private cars, and limit their plane trips to once every three years.
CIFF is also a major contributor to the Clean Air Fund, having provided the philanthropic organisation with £17million.
The London-based registered charity, which was founded in 2018 to back clean air policies, claims to have been responsible for helping develop London’s controversial Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).
The website states it “drove the creation or expansion of eight Clean Air Zones (CAZ) in Bath, Brighton, Portsmouth and the London Ultra Low Emission Zone – with the potential to save millions of lives”.
A CIFF spokesman said the organisation is an “independent philanthropic organisation” and registered charity and that climate change and air pollution “pose two of the greatest threats to the future of today’s children and young people”.
They added: “We are committed to transparency in our grant-making and regularly provide public information about our work and grants through our website, annual report and social media.”
A spokesman for the Clean Air Fund said the charity reports its accounts to the charity commission, adding: “Air pollution costs millions of lives every year. The Clean Air Fund partners with governments, funders, businesses and local communities to tackle it. Everyone deserves to breathe clean air.”
