Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and an all star line up of very wealthy and very influential investors are launching a fund to solve climate change related problems.
Launching $1 billion investment fund for next generation energy technologies https://t.co/eWGZrcflaZ @btenergy @BillGates pic.twitter.com/SuNoLP5jz0
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) December 12, 2016
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Over the next two decades Gates and 19 others plan to put more than one billion dollars (£793 million) into a new fund which aims to to fight climate change through energy innovation.
The fund’s backers are together worth around £135 billion, one of the richest collection of investors in history.
Wired.co.uk reports:
Breakthrough Energy Ventures will invest in technologies which are set to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half a gigaton” and that have “existing scientific proof of concept”.
The fund, which also includes Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Richard Branson, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, will officially launch today and will start making investments in 2017. Its main aim will be to develop technologies that can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Acting as chairman of the fund, Gates, according to Quartz, says the group is “open-minded” about potential investments. “People think you can just put $50 million in and wait two years and then you know what you got. In this energy space, that’s not true at all,” he told the publication.
“Our goal is to build companies that will help deliver the next generation of reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy to the world,” Gates said in a further statement. Overall, it is thought the 20 people behind the fund are worth around $170bn (£134bn).
The launch of the fund comes at a time when the president-elect of the United States has said “nobody really knows” if climate change is real – however, Trump also said he is “open-minded” about the issue. It also follows the Paris climate change agreement that aims to stop global average temperatures from rising too high coming into force on November 4.
The fund is a follow-up to the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, announced in November 2015. The coalition is made up of an elite group of private investors that includes Faceook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The coalition’s website says the group is “committed to investing in new technologies to find better, more efficient and cheaper energy sources”. As well as its newly announced venture arm, the coalition will also act as a partnership between governments, research groups and investors.
“The existing system of basic research, clean energy investment, regulatory frameworks, and subsidies fails to mobilise sufficient investment in truly transformative energy solutions for the future,” the coalition says.
Niamh Harris
Latest posts by Niamh Harris (see all)
- Top Netanyahu Aide Says Israel Will Create ‘Security Envelope’ To Enclose Gaza - December 4, 2023
- White House Says Money For Ukraine Is ‘Desperately’ Needed - December 4, 2023
- Pentagon Extremism Report: Dozens Of US Soldiers Want To Overthrow US Government - December 4, 2023
yeah, you go bill gates, fight that imaginary climate change monster. and dont forget to wear a helmet.
Try chilling in hell, son of a bitch.
Another Clinton Foundation!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry Bill, your virus has put all of us into a super depression, we can’t afford your agenda. Your plan to destroy the rugged individual will work. Be proud of yourself. You and your friends will be the only rich people left.