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American billionaire Bill Gates is looking to see positive actions at COP28 in Dubai that will eventually make clean energy affordable to everyone.
The founder of Microsoft has confirmed his attendance at the United Nations’ (UN) annual talks on climate change in the UAE, where he is expected to share his thoughts on how climate disaster can be avoided, and everyone’s lives can be improved.
“This year’s event, COP28… is an especially important one, and I’ll be travelling to Dubai in a few days to attend,” Gates wrote on his latest blog.
In a post on LinkedIn, Gates also pointed out that the conference should tackle ways to provide clean energy to the “most vulnerable”, as well as combat health issues and poverty.
“Our focus at COP28 in Dubai should be on innovating for the most vulnerable, making clean energy more accessible, and fighting disease and poverty. I’m eager to discuss how we can avoid a climate disaster and improve life for people now and in the future.”
Gates said he will talk about funding more innovations that will cut carbon emissions while making clean energy affordable for everyone, help people, especially those in poor countries, survive in a warming world, and continue the world’s progress on fighting disease and poverty.
“The point about disease and poverty is especially important. As the world commits more money to dealing with climate change, we need to maintain our efforts to improve health and spark economic growth in poor countries,” Gates wrote on his blog.
“The people who are dying from malaria or stuck in poverty today are just as important as the grandchildren we’re trying to preserve the climate for. So, it’s great that this COP includes a summit on food systems and a day specifically focused on health.”
Emissions, clean energy
Gates acknowledged that there are challenges to meeting all the targets for reducing emissions in the near term. However, he noted that there have already been innovations that will help meet net-zero goals.
“Scaling up solar and wind power as they get cheaper is a clear solution. Also, companies are working on next-generation nuclear [power] that [is] much cheaper, safer and produces less waste,” Gates said in a video message for COP28.
“We’re not hitting all the near-term targets for reducing emissions, and that’s definitely concerning. But what I see with innovators all over the world, they’ve got solutions that will let us bring emissions down dramatically,” Gates said.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
