Editing Bill Gates (section)

== Climate change and energy ==
[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting with Mr. Bill Gates, in Glasgow, Scotland on November 02, 2021 (2).jpg|thumb|With Indian Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] at the [[2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference|COP26 climate summit]] in Glasgow in November 2021]]

Gates considers [[climate change]] and [[Energy access|global access to energy]] to be critical, interrelated issues. He has urged governments and the private sector to invest in research and development to make clean, reliable energy cheaper. Gates envisions that a breakthrough innovation in [[sustainable energy]] technology could drive down both greenhouse gas emissions and poverty, and bring economic benefits by stabilizing energy prices.<ref name="Wattles-2015">{{Cite web|last=Wattles|first=Jackie|date=November 11, 2015|title=Bill Gates launches multi-billion dollar clean energy fund|url=https://money.cnn.com/2015/11/29/news/economy/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-coalition/index.html|access-date=December 12, 2020|website=CNN Money|archive-date=December 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201072730/https://money.cnn.com/2015/11/29/news/economy/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-coalition/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, he said: "If you gave me the choice between picking the next 10 presidents or ensuring that energy is environmentally friendly and a quarter as costly, I'd pick the energy thing."<ref name="Wired 2011">{{cite magazine | title=Q&A: Bill Gates on the World's Energy Crisis | issue=7 | magazine=Wired | volume=19 | date=June 20, 2011 | url=https://www.wired.com/2011/06/mf-qagates/ | access-date=October 2, 2019 | archive-date=May 17, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517044326/https://www.wired.com/2011/06/mf-qagates/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2015, he wrote about the challenge of transitioning the world's energy system from one based primarily on fossil fuels to one based on sustainable energy sources. Global [[energy transitions]] have historically taken decades. He wrote, "I believe we can make this transition faster, both because the pace of innovation is accelerating, and because we have never had such an urgent reason to move from one source of energy to another."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gates|first=Bill|date=November 30, 2015|title=Energy Innovation: Why We Need It and How to Get It|url=https://media.gatesnotes.com/-/media/Files/Energy/Energy_Innovation_Nov_30_2015|access-date=December 12, 2020|website=Gates Notes|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605035151/https://media.gatesnotes.com/-/media/Files/Energy/Energy_Innovation_Nov_30_2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> This rapid transition, according to Gates, would depend on increased government funding for basic research and financially risky private-sector investment, to enable innovation in diverse areas such as [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]], [[grid energy storage]] to facilitate greater use of solar and wind energy, and [[solar fuels]].<ref name="Thornhill-2015">{{Cite web|last1=Thornhill|first1=John|last2=Adams|first2=Christopher|date=June 25, 2015|title=Gates to double investment in renewable energy projects|url=https://www.ft.com/content/4f66ff5c-1a47-11e5-a130-2e7db721f996 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/4f66ff5c-1a47-11e5-a130-2e7db721f996 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=December 12, 2020|website=[[Financial Times]]|language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[File:Ursula von der Leyen attends the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (41).jpg|thumb|The [[European Commission]], [[European Investment Bank]] and Gates' [[Breakthrough Energy|Breakthrough Energy Catalyst]] agreed at the 2021 [[United Nations Climate Change conference|UN Climate Change conference]] to work together to bring green technologies to market.]]

Gates spearheaded two initiatives that he announced at the [[2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference]] in Paris. One was [[Mission Innovation]], in which 20 national governments pledged to double their spending on research and development for carbon-free energy in over five years' time.<ref name="Wattles-2015" /> Another initiative was [[Breakthrough Energy]], a group of investors who agreed to fund high-risk startups in clean energy technologies. Gates, who had already invested $1 billion of his own money in innovative energy startups, committed a further $1 billion to Breakthrough Energy.<ref name="Thornhill-2015" /> In December 2020, he called for the U.S. federal government to create institutes for clean energy research, analogous to the [[National Institutes of Health]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schlosser|first=Kurt|date=December 3, 2020|title=Bill Gates calls for creation of National Institutes of Energy Innovation to better address climate change|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/bill-gates-calls-creation-national-institutes-energy-innovation-better-address-climate-change/|access-date=December 12, 2020|website=GeekWire|language=en-US|archive-date=December 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203181752/https://www.geekwire.com/2020/bill-gates-calls-creation-national-institutes-energy-innovation-better-address-climate-change/|url-status=live}}</ref> Gates has also urged rich nations to shift to 100% [[synthetic beef]] industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production.<ref name="vlredef">{{cite news|last1=Listek|first1=Vanesa|date=February 19, 2021|title=Redefine Meat Raises $29M to Grow its 3D Printed Alt-Meat Portfolio|publisher=3DR HOLDINGS|agency=3D Print|url=https://3dprint.com/279211/redefine-meat-raises-29m-to-grow-its-3d-printed-alt-meat-portfolio/|access-date=April 14, 2021|archive-date=September 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923133453/https://3dprint.com/279211/redefine-meat-raises-29m-to-grow-its-3d-printed-alt-meat-portfolio/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gates has been criticized for holding a large stake in [[Signature Aviation]], a company that services emissions-intensive private jets.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 9, 2021|title=Bill Gates joins Blackstone in bid to buy British private jet services firm|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/09/bill-gates-joins-blackstone-in-bid-to-buy-british-private-jet-firm|access-date=February 2, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=January 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109080308/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/09/bill-gates-joins-blackstone-in-bid-to-buy-british-private-jet-firm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, he began to [[Fossil fuel divestment|divest from fossil fuels]]. He does not expect divestment itself to have much practical impact, but says that if his efforts to provide alternatives were to fail, he would not want to personally benefit from an increase in fossil fuel stock prices.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 15, 2021|title=Bill Gates shows how hard it can be to divest from fossil fuel|url=http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/bill-gates-shows-how-hard-it-can-be-divest-fossil-fuel|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=The Edge Markets|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216235842/https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/bill-gates-shows-how-hard-it-can-be-divest-fossil-fuel|url-status=dead}}</ref> After he published his book ''[[How to Avoid a Climate Disaster]]'', parts of the climate activist community criticized Gates's approach as [[technological solutionism]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reviewed: "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates, "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson, and "Under a White Sky" by Elizabeth Kolbert|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/16/1017832/gates-robinson-kolbert-review-climate-disaster-solutionism/|access-date=March 8, 2021|website=MIT Technology Review|language=en|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216141831/https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/16/1017832/gates-robinson-kolbert-review-climate-disaster-solutionism/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022, educational streamer [[Wondrium]] produced the series "Solving for Zero: The Search for Climate Innovation" inspired by the book.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hirsh |first=Sophie |date=April 5, 2022 |title=Bill Gates' New Doc, 'Solving for Zero,' Showcases Climate Change Solutions That Could Actually Work |url=https://www.greenmatters.com/p/solving-for-zero-documentary |access-date=April 14, 2023 |website=Green Matters |language=en-US |archive-date=April 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414184737/https://www.greenmatters.com/p/solving-for-zero-documentary |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2021, Gates's company [[TerraPower]] and [[Warren Buffett]]'s [[PacifiCorp]] announced the first [[sodium]] nuclear reactor in [[Wyoming]]. Wyoming Governor [[Mark Gordon (politician)|Mike Gordon]] hailed the project as a step toward carbon-negative nuclear power. Wyoming Senator [[John Barrasso]] also said that it could boost the state's once-active uranium mining industry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bill Gates' next generation nuclear reactor to be built in Wyoming |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1869531/world |access-date=June 3, 2021 |work=[[Arab News]] |agency=Reuters |date=June 3, 2021 |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603031827/https://www.arabnews.com/node/1869531/world |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gates supported the passage of the [[Inflation Reduction Act of 2022]]. He tried to convince [[Joe Manchin]] to support a climate bill starting in 2019, and especially in the months leading up to the adoption of the bill. The bill aimed to cut the global greenhouse gas emissions in a level similar to "eliminating the annual planet-warming pollution of France and Germany combined" and may help to limit the warming of the planet to 1.5 degrees – the target of the [[Paris Agreement]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rathi |first1=Akshat |last2=A Dlouhy |first2=Jennifer |title=Bill Gates and the Secret Push to Save Biden's Climate Bill |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-16/how-bill-gates-lobbied-to-save-the-climate-tax-bill-biden-just-signed |access-date=September 19, 2022 |agency=Bloomberg |date=August 2022 |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818142441/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-16/how-bill-gates-lobbied-to-save-the-climate-tax-bill-biden-just-signed |url-status=live }}</ref> He thanked both Joe Manchin and [[Chuck Schumer]] for their efforts in a guest essay in ''[[The New York Times]]'', where he said "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may be the single most important piece of climate legislation in American history" given its potential to spur development of new technologies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Bill |date=August 5, 2022 |title=Opinion {{!}} Bill Gates: We're on the Verge of a Remarkable Moment for Congress and the Country |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/climate-inflation-congress.html |access-date=October 24, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024171841/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/climate-inflation-congress.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Gates gave further insights on climate change in his commencement address at [[Northern Arizona University]] on May 6, 2023, where he was bestowed an honorary doctorate.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Morimoto|first1=Tianna|title=Microsoft founder Bill Gates honored at Northern Arizona University graduation|url=https://www.azfamily.com/2023/05/14/microsoft-founder-bill-gates-honored-northern-arizona-university-graduation/|access-date=May 19, 2023|agency=Arizona's Family|date=May 2023|archive-date=May 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519134053/https://www.azfamily.com/2023/05/14/microsoft-founder-bill-gates-honored-northern-arizona-university-graduation/|url-status=live}}</ref>