Bill Gates exudes optimism in discussing the world\u2019s ability to tackle climate change \u2013 until he hits on manufacturing. About that, he is worried.<\/p>\n
There is currently no way to make steel or cement without releasing climate-warming emissions. Yet, neither governments nor investors are looking hard to solve that problem, Gates said.<\/p>\n
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Bill Gates told CNBC in November that \u201cover 50 per cent of business travel and over 30 per cent of days in the office would go away\u201d .<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Bloomberg<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the sector that bothers me the most,\u201d Gates said in a video interview with Reuters ahead of the publication this week of his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster<\/em>.<\/p>\n The software-developer-turned-philanthropist has invested some $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) toward the development of clean technologies. But those investments are in electricity generation and storage, not in manufacturing.<\/p>\n Manufacturing \u2013 especially in the cheap construction staples steel and cement \u2013 accounts for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. That makes manufacturing more polluting than the power or transportation sectors, which receive far more attention in policies and investments. And the manufacturing sector is set to grow, as the global population climbs and countries further develop.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople still need basic shelter, certainly in developing countries,\u201d said Gates, co-founder of Microsoft. \u201cIt\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll stop building buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n Gates plans to push for more research and innovation at the UN climate conference in Glasgow in November. \u201cThe idea is to get innovation, including R&D, onto the agenda \u2026 not just looking at the easy stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n During the 2015 UN climate talks in Paris, Gates helped to launch a global initiative called Mission Innovation along with US President Barack Obama, France\u2019s President Francois Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to link national governments with the private sector in pursuing and sharing clean technology.<\/p>\n We need \u201ctotal coordination, and in fact some overlap is a very good thing to have,\u201d Gates told Reuters. But he said there should be diversity in the solutions being sought so governments do not end up duplicating efforts.<\/p>\n Right now, for example, \u201cthey\u2019re doing a lot of green hydrogen products,\u201d Gates said. \u201cBut who\u2019s doing the hard stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Gates says more needs to be done to tackle the environmental problems created by manufacturing.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Some manufacturing plants may be able to lower their emissions by plugging into an electricity grid run on renewable energy. But that will not solve all emissions from steel- and cement-making, both processes that release carbon dioxide as a byproduct.<\/p>\n In the United States, it hasn\u2019t helped to have energy policy yo-yo between presidential administrations, he said. \u201cThis stop-start approach, that\u2019s too risky for the private sector.\u201d<\/p>\n On a personal note, Gates says in his book that, after years of dismissing activists\u2019 calls to divest from fossil fuels, he sold his direct holdings in oil and gas companies in 2019. The Gates Foundation\u2019s endowment did the same \u2013 but not because Gates became convinced that divestment would push companies toward clean energy.<\/p>\n Rather, \u201cI don\u2019t want to profit if their stock prices go up because we don\u2019t develop zero-carbon alternatives,\u201d he writes. \u201cI\u2019d feel bad if I benefited from a delay in getting to zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n