Bill Gates delivers a speech on October 11, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates on Friday shared his “great hope” for this year’s UN climate conference and said the glass was “definitely half full” when it comes to averting the worst of what the climate crisis has in store.
Speaking as world leaders gathered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the second day of the COP28 summit, Gates said he believes there are many encouraging climate solutions, but that these projects require the necessary support from policymakers and business leaders.
“Now, we have to take what looks promising and scale it up, build the pilots, prove it,” Gates told CNBC’s Tanya Breyer on Friday. “And that requires government policies, it requires big companies to come in and so all these different communities that need to come together, they’re represented here.”
COP28 is the United Nations’ largest and most important annual climate conference. The two-week summit kicked off Thursday, with more than 160 world leaders expected to attend — along with some 70,000 delegates.
It is seen as a key opportunity to accelerate action on the climate crisis at a time when global temperatures are reaching record highs and extreme weather is affecting people around the world.
“You know, I think 70,000 people and it seems like wow, do we need that many? But actually, a lot of the meetings here are going to be where these companies are going to have the support and kind of experience of big companies, the help of the government and these entrepreneurs are going to come together Gates said.
“And so, facilitating the speed of innovation and the speed of scaling up, that’s my big hope for COP28.”
“The magic of invention and scale”
He was asked about the criticism of conferences like COP28, as some believe it is often all talk and no action, Gates championed the platform as a means to help drive progress around the world.
“The collaboration between these sectors has improved a lot,” Gates told CNBC.
“We’re way short of our ambitions in many areas, and we’re coming in and saying, you know, how are we going to catch up? Can we do better in one area? Which countries are doing particularly well? Are there models of this?”
A participant checks a smartphone while walking past the Al Wasl Dome in the Blue Zone ahead of the COP28 climate conference at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. More than 70,000 politicians, diplomats, activists, funders and business leaders will fly to Dubai to talk about halting the world’s slide into environmental disaster.
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“It’s an extremely important issue,” he continued. “It’s definitely the glass half full.”
“We haven’t moved as fast as we’d like and yet especially if you look at the innovation booth, these smaller companies, the ideas cover all areas of emissions. And there’s hope that a lot of these clean, time-bound approaches won It doesn’t cost extra Gates added.
The billionaire philanthropist said the cost of solar electricity and EV batteries has come down.
“And so, that same magic of invention and scaling, if we apply it widely … I hope that, despite these delays and incredible complexity, the message that comes out of these meetings helps drive progress,” said Gates.