Bill Gates on climate protection: "We have to shut everything down and start again".
For many years, Microsoft founder and multi-billionaire Bill Gates has been campaigning for climate protection. Now he published his view on the current situation around climate change.
Stuttgart - Bill Gates has long been known not only as the founder of the technology company Microsoft. The entrepreneur is also a benefactor and has been campaigning for climate protection, among other things, for many years. In his annual letter on climate change, he now gives an interesting overview of the current situation in our world. He also describes which measures have already been implemented and which are still missing. That one should listen to Gates on some topics has already been proven in the past - 20 years ago he already predicted six things that have come true.
Bill Gates wants to "shut everything down and start over" for climate protection
In his letter on climate protection, Bill Gates writes: "We use so much energy and have invested so much in machines to generate it. Now, within 30 years, we need to shut it all down and start over with clean technologies." However, he said he was optimistic about the future because private and public investment in clean technologies was growing strongly. "I still believe we can avoid a climate catastrophe," Gates says. Nevertheless, emissions continue to rise and the world's annual CO2 emissions remain at 51 billion tonnes, although they should have been zero long ago.
The Microsoft founder warns that we need to move much faster in the coming years. "Everything and everywhere" must be put to the test. For example, the manufacturing industry, such as the cement, plastics and steel industries, which, according to Bill Gates, account for 30 percent of emissions and are thus the biggest polluters. Moreover, averting a catastrophe is only possible as a joint global effort. Europe and North America in particular owe it to the world to invest aggressively in addition to eliminating their own emissions. This would enable other countries to stop greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time expand their economies and improve their standard of living, as t3n.de reports.
There are three solutions to the "problem of 'everything and everywhere'", as Gates calls it - innovation, cost-cutting and infrastructure replacement. New clean technologies must be invented to replace any emissions-intensive process. The cost of these must be reduced, the old infrastructure decommissioned and the implementation of the new methods started immediately.
Research is a key to success in climate protection, according to Bill Gates
First and foremost, a plan is needed for this. Bill Gates already presented an idea last year on how to save the world. For him, the key to success in climate protection is to continue intensive research and development. The focus must be on sustainable fuels for long-haul flights, affordable processes for COā capture and additional renewable energy sources. According to his calculations, the global demand for energy will double, if not triple, as more and more processes are electrified.
The multi-billionaire also believes that greater involvement of people will lead to better planning and site selection. He therefore also calls for a fair, helpful process so that policies can be scaled up to help people deal with the impacts of climate change. "This is the most difficult challenge people have ever faced," writes Bill Gates.