The Weeknd and BTS hope to raise billions for Global Citizen

NEW YORK (AP) — The Weeknd, BTS and Billie Eilish will take part in Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour event on Sept. 21 that's intended to raise money and awareness to fight worldwide threats including COVID-19, climate change and extreme poverty.

Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen, is hoping the event, timed to the United Nations General Assembly, will encourage governments, corporations and philanthropists to fund a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by September, especially in Africa. The international advocacy group also hopes to raise $6 billion for famine relief efforts for the 41 million people worldwide who are estimated to be on the brink of starvation, as well as enough money to plant a billion trees to help counter climate change.

For anyone who questions whether these institutions will manage to generate more money to donate, Evans points to the current space race.

“As billionaires are leaping into space, we need to remind people that we’ve really only got one planet and we need to make sure that we that we actually care for it and for those who are on it,” Evans told the Associated Press. “This is something the ultra-high-net-worth community can solve the world’s problems right now.

"We’re literally talking about an investment which sounds big in comparison — $6 billion to address the famine relief efforts across Africa. Honestly, Jeff Bezos could write that check tomorrow and it would be a percentage point in his total net worth. I’m all for people daring to dream, and may they dream even bigger, but let’s also dream about a world where the absolutely stupid social ills that currently still exist in the world are addressed by those who have the means to do so.”

Global Citizen Live — which will run the gamut from pop stars H.E.R., Lizzo, Lorde and Ed Sheeran to...