Clinton Effort to Fight Global Ills Tallies $7.3-Billion in Pledges From Donors

Political, corporate, and nonprofit leaders have pledged at least $7.3-billion in business investments, philanthropic donations, and other commitments as part of an effort led by former President Bill Clinton to find ways to fix global problems.

That dollar amount was announced at a meeting held here last month by the William J. Clinton Foundation, in New York. The foundation uses the event to tally the gifts raised in the past year for its Clinton Global Initiative.

For example, the billion-dollar total includes a $40-million donation by Jonathan M. Tisch, co-chairman of the Loews Corporation and chief executive officer of Loews Hotels, to support a college of public service at Tufts University that was announced in May.

The largest of the 215 promises came from the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin corporate conglomerate, who said he would provide an estimated $3-billion over 10 years to curb climate change by developing alternative energy sources.

Mr. Branson said he would provide grants to nonprofit research groups and would also invest in cutting-edge environmental technology companies. His commitment will come from his personal profits from Virgin’s airline and railroad businesses.

“I hope this contribution will help, in a small way, our children experience our beautiful world and encourage others to do what they can,” he said.

While Mr. Branson’s commitment is not a traditional philanthropic gift, he said his goal was not to make money.

He said any proceeds from the new commercial ventures would be reinvested in other environmental efforts, adding that he expected some of the projects he will finance to fail.

“Some will be profitable, some will not be profitable,” he said. “But the only way global warming is going to be beaten is to invest in new fuels that can actually replace fossil fuels.”

Mr. Branson, nicknamed the “rebel billionaire” for his flamboyant style, said former Vice President Al Gore persuaded him to make his pledge when the two men met last year at Mr. Branson’s home in London.

While the Clinton meeting stressed the ability of commercial ventures to aid society, such as Mr. Branson’s effort, several traditional philanthropic donations were also announced.

For instance, Peter Buffett, the youngest son of the investor Warren Buffett, said he would give $15-million to support the International Rescue Committee. The grant, which is the largest private contribution to the relief group in its history, will support school construction, teacher training, and education programs in West Africa.

Fulfilling Pledges

The Clinton Global Initiative gathered about 1,000 world leaders, business executives, charity officials, and the occasional Hollywood actor to discuss approaches to fighting endemic poverty, religious strife, and other social ailments.

Mr. Clinton’s event sets itself apart from other business and civil-society conferences in that participants must make a charitable promise — and fulfill it — or they will not be invited back.

According to Jay Carson, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman, “less than 20″ of the participants in the 2005 Clinton Global Initiative were removed from the guest list.

The Clinton Foundation, which runs the conference, tracks the commitments and promises to hold people accountable.

Nevertheless, Mr. Carson declined to name the organizations or donors that were not invited back.

“We didn’t say we would either A, chase them down to their houses, or B, beat the commitments out of them, or that we would embarrass them with the international press corps,” he said.

The foundation did publish a 264-page report card of sorts on last year’s pledges that includes information about what each has accomplished so far.

While many of the projects will take years to complete, the book pointed out some tangible results: 7,000 Mexican women have received small business loans, 575,000 Sudanese have benefited from health programs, and 6,000 youths and adults have started a discussion on resolving religious differences.

Thomas Hunter, a Scottish retail-clothing entrepreneur, who last year pledged $100-million to help Africans, told The Chronicle he was pleased with what his gift has wrought. The Clinton Foundation said the project had opened offices and hired staff members in Rwanda and Malawi and is surveying farmers in those two nations to figure out a way to improve access to food, clean water, and health services. “We’ve made progress,” said Mr. Hunter.

To teach participants how to make a pledge, the Clinton Foundation set up information booths at the conference and produced a 10-page booklet, with a sample commitment announcement, and a slick three-minute instructional DVD, complete with video montages scored to an up-tempo rock song.

While the foundation accepts most pledges, it occasionally rejects one. For example, one participant last month wanted to dedicate his life to achieving world peace, a noteworthy sentiment perhaps, but not specific enough to meet Mr. Clinton’s standards.

Web-Site Appeal

Aside from the charitable ventures proposed by the conference’s wealthy participants, who each paid $15,000 to attend, the Clinton Foundation solicits pledges from people of more modest means on its Web site.

In September, such online commitments came from as far away as Nepal and included a mother’s promise to “instill a sense of fairness, self-respect, understanding, and empathy in my children,” and a man who said he will replace his light bulbs with low-energy halogen or fluorescent ones.

The Clinton event’s blend of highbrow discussions with the pomp of a celebrity telethon attracts a broad assortment of do-gooders. During a break between sessions this year, a seemingly incongruous trio — the mother of the basketball star Michael Jordan, the television actress Alyssa Milano, and an official from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — traded views on helping the poor in developing nations.

Brian A. Gallagher, president of United Way of America, in Alexandria, Va., praised the conference as an opportunity to rub shoulders with this unusual crowd and to meet potential allies.

But the conference wasn’t all good will and amicable handshakes.

After the first lady, Laura Bush, announced a project to help Africans gain access to clean water, Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan, urged participants to assist South Asia as well.

“We deserve the attention, too,” the Pakistani president said, referring to water projects. “We would like to be helped in that [way] also.”

A list of commitments made during the event is available on the Web site of the Clinton Global Initiative, at http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.