Bill Gates is urging the world to take a breath, to look up from the charts and alarms, and rethink its approach to climate change. He argues that an overly catastrophic narrative is pulling resources away from the solutions that could do the most for human welfare.
In a memo released Tuesday—on his 70th birthday—the Microsoft co-founder challenged what he called a “doomsday view of climate change,” saying it has led policymakers to “focus too much on near-term emissions goals” at the expense of deeper, more lasting interventions.
The memo comes just two weeks before global leaders gather in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, the U.N. climate summit set for November 10–21.
“Although climate change will have serious consequences—particularly for people in the poorest countries—it will not lead to humanity’s demise,” Gates wrote. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”
Through his climate venture fund, Breakthrough Energy, Gates has invested billions since 2015. Now he’s calling for what he terms a “strategic pivot” — a move from obsessing over temperature targets to improving health, agriculture, and economic life in the world’s most fragile regions.
“This is a chance to refocus on the metric that should count even more than emissions and temperature change: improving lives,” Gates wrote. “Our chief goal should be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions who live in the world’s poorest countries.”
It is a measured plea — less thunder, more ballast — from a man who has seen both panic and progress and seems to be reminding the world that fear, too, burns energy
