UN to Elon Musk: Here's that $6 billion plan to end world hunger
The director of the United Nations' World Food Programme laid out a plan to spend $6.6 billion to combat world hunger — a direct response to a back-and-forth with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who claimed he would sell Tesla stock to fund a plan if the WFP could describe "exactly how" it would work.
David Beasley, the UN food program director and former Republican governor of South Carolina, tweeted a link on Monday to a 1,000-word "executive summary." It maps out how the UN would deploy $6.6 billion worth of meals and vouchers to feed more than 40 million people across 43 countries that are "on the brink of famine" — thereby averting what the WFP is calling a looming "catastrophe."
In the document Beasley posted, the WFP proposes dedicating $3.5 billion to buy and deliver food directly, $2 billion "for cash and food vouchers (including transaction fees) in places where markets can function," and spending another $700 million to manage new food programs that are "adapted to the in-country" conditions and ensure "the assistance reaches the most vulnerable."
Another $400 million would be used for "operations management, administration and accountability" and supply chain coordination.
"The world is on fire," Beasley wrote. "I've been warning about the perfect storm brewing due to Covid, conflict, climate shocks & now, rising supply chain costs. IT IS HERE."
"This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable," Beasley wrote in a separate tweet, tagging Musk, who is the world's wealthiest person with a net worth of approximately $288 billion. "You asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We're ready to talk with you - and anyone else - who is serious about saving lives."
As of Wednesday afternoon, Musk had not responded.
The back-and-forth between Musk and Beasley kicked off with a CNN interview last month in which Beasley asked billionaires to "step up now, on a one-time basis" to help combat world hunger, specifically citing the world's two richest men: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Beasley said giving $6 billion, or 2% of Musk's net worth, could help solve world hunger.
Musk responded on Twitter, writing, "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it."
"But it must be open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent," Musk added.
Beasley previously replied to Musk's tweets, assuring him that systems are in place for transparency and open source accounting.
"For him to even enter into this conversation is a game-changer because simply put, we can answer his questions, we can put forth a plan that's clear," Beasley told CNN in a follow-up interview earlier this month. "Any and everything he asks, we would be glad to answer. I look forward to having this discussion with him because lives are at stake."
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the world's hunger crisis was already exacerbated by climate change and conflict. The pandemic compounded the existing issues though, leaving "42 million people that are literally knocking on famine's door," Beasley said. "This is a worst-case scenario."
It's not clear if Musk or Bezos have seen the plan and will ultimately decide to lend their support. Spokespeople for Musk's companies did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Bezos, Angela Landers, declined to comment on the WFP's proposal but pointed to other philanthropic donations Bezos has made to combating hunger.
Musk has previously made bold promises on Twitter, committing resources to charitable endeavors. In 2018, for example, he pledged to "fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels." Musk ended up donating about half a million dollars for installing water filters in the town's schools, according to an August article from a local news outlet.
Musk has made more sizable donations to certain projects. This year, he promised to donate $30 million to Brownsville, Texas, the city nearest to a massive rocket hub run by his company SpaceX, and local schools.
He also set up the Musk Foundation, which says it gives to efforts related to renewable energy expansion, human space exploration and safe uses of artificial intelligence. He's also signed The Giving Pledge, a promise to donate at least half of his wealth to charitable efforts during his lifetime, something Bezos has not done.
CNN Businesses' Walé Azeez, Eoin McSweeney, Adam Pourahmadi and Moira Ritter contributed to this report.
联合国致埃隆马斯克：这是旨在结束世界饥饿的 60 亿美元计划
联合国世界粮食计划署的负责人制定了一项计划，斥资 66 亿美元来对抗世界饥饿——这是对与特斯拉首席执行官埃隆马斯克的来回的直接回应，后者声称他将出售特斯拉股票以资助一项计划如果世界粮食计划署能够描述它“确切地如何”运作。
联合国粮食计划署主任、前南卡罗来纳州共和党州长戴维·比斯利 (David Beasley) 周一在推特上发布了一个链接，指向 1,000 字的“执行摘要”。它描绘了联合国将如何部署价值 66 亿美元的餐食和代金券，以养活 43 个“处于饥荒边缘”的国家的 4000 多万人——从而避免世界粮食计划署所说的迫在眉睫的“灾难”。
在比斯利发布的文件中，世界粮食计划署提议投入 35 亿美元用于直接购买和运送食品，20 亿美元用于“在市场可以运作的地方提供现金和食品券（包括交易费）”，并另外投入 7 亿美元用于管理新的食品计划“适应国内”条件并确保“援助到达最弱势群体”。
另外 4 亿美元将用于“运营管理、行政和问责制”以及供应链协调。
“世界着火了，”比斯利写道。 “我一直在警告，由于 Covid、冲突、气候冲击以及现在供应链成本上升，一场完美的风暴正在酝酿。它就在这里。”
比斯利在另一条推文中写道：“这场饥饿危机是紧迫的、史无前例的，而且是可以避免的。”马斯克是世界上最富有的人，净资产约为 2880 亿美元。 “你要求有一个明确的计划和公开的书籍。就是这样！我们准备好与你——以及任何其他人——认真对待拯救生命的问题进行交谈。”
截至周三下午，马斯克尚未做出回应。
马斯克和比斯利之间的来回开始于上个月接受 CNN 采访时，比斯利要求亿万富翁“现在就站出来，一次性地”帮助对抗世界饥饿，特别引用了世界上最富有的两个人：埃隆马斯克和杰夫贝索斯。
比斯利表示，捐赠 60 亿美元，即马斯克净资产的 2%，可以帮助解决世界饥饿问题。
马斯克在推特上回应，写道：“如果世界粮食计划署能够在这个推特帖子中准确描述 6B 美元将如何解决世界饥饿问题，我将立即出售特斯拉股票并这样做。”
“但它必须是开源会计，所以公众可以准确地看到钱是如何花的，”马斯克补充道。
比斯利此前回复了马斯克的推文，向他保证系统已经到位，以实现透明度和开源会计。
比斯利在本月早些时候的一次后续采访中告诉美国有线电视新闻网：“对他来说，甚至参与这场对话都改变了游戏规则，因为简单地说，我们可以回答他的问题，我们可以提出一个明确的计划。” “他提出的任何问题，我们都很乐意回答。我期待与他进行这次讨论，因为生命危在旦夕。”
在 Covid-19 大流行之前，气候变化和冲突已经加剧了世界饥饿危机。比斯利说，尽管这场大流行使现有问题更加复杂，但“实际上有 4200 万人正在敲饥荒的大门”。 “这是最坏的情况。”
目前尚不清楚马斯克或贝索斯是否看到了该计划并最终决定提供支持。马斯克旗下公司的发言人没有回应置评请求。贝索斯的代表安吉拉兰德斯拒绝对世界粮食计划署的提议发表评论，但指出了贝索斯为抗击饥饿所做的其他慈善捐赠。
马斯克此前曾在推特上做出大胆承诺，将资源投入慈善事业。例如，在 2018 年，他承诺“为弗林特任何水污染超过 FDA 水平的房屋提供资金修复”。根据当地一家新闻媒体 8 月份的一篇文章，马斯克最终捐赠了大约 50 万美元用于在该镇的学校安装滤水器。
马斯克对某些项目进行了更大量的捐赠。今年，他承诺向德克萨斯州布朗斯维尔和当地学校捐赠 3000 万美元，这座城市距离他的公司 SpaceX 运营的大型火箭中心最近。
他还成立了马斯克基金会，该基金会表示，该基金会致力于与可再生能源扩张、人类太空探索和人工智能的安全使用相关的努力。他还签署了捐赠誓言，承诺在他有生之年将至少一半的财富捐赠给慈善事业，这是贝索斯没有做到的。
CNN Businesses 的 Walé Azeez、Eoin McSweeney、Adam Pourahmadi 和 Moira Ritter 为本报告做出了贡献。
