Billionaire’s statement comes a day after UN said humanity missed 1.5C climate target
Bill Gates has called for a “strategic pivot” in the effort against the climate crisis, writing that the world should shift away from trying to limit rising temperatures to instead focusing on efforts to prevent disease and poverty.
Writing on his Gates Notes website, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder criticized what he described as a “doomsday view of climate change” which is focusing “too much on near-term emissions goals”.
Gates’s memo comes a day after the UN said humanity had missed its target of limiting global heating to 1.5C, with the UN secretary general warning of “devastating consequences” for the world.
In the note on Monday, Gates said: “Although climate change will have serious consequences – particularly for people in the poorest countries – it will not lead to humanity’s demise. People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”
