Bill Gates

In a stunning and significant pushback to the “doomsday” climate activist community, Bill Gates, a leading proponent for carbon emissions reductions… argued resources must be shifted away from the battle against climate change. Instead, Gates argues, the world’s philanthropists must increase their investment in other efforts aimed at preventing disease and hunger. Climate change is not going to wipe out humanity, he argued, and past efforts that strive for achieving zero carbon emissions have made real progress. But Gates said that past investments fighting climate change have been misplaced, and too much good money has been put into expensive and questionable efforts. Although Gates said investment to battle climate change must continue, he argued that… a more urgent problem, inflicting potentially lasting global damage to the fight against famine and life-threatening preventable sickness. …“We should deal with problems in proportion to the suffering they cause.”

In related coverage by David Gelles, NY Times: The Two Big Questions Surrounding Bill Gates’s Climate Memo

• Is this going to change the way people talk about climate change?

• Will this change how climate efforts are funded?