Bill Gates calls for zero carbon emissions by 2050. Photo: Nancy Duarte.
Bill Gates, when asked to give "the talk of his life - in 18 minutes" at the TED Talks conference last week, set a startling precedent for business leaders, choosing energy and climate as his subject - by calling for nothing less than zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Gates' commitment to stopping climate change couldn't come at a more urgent juncture and it's a major development for 3 reasons.
1: The power of influence
Since the failure of Copenhagen the movement to stop climate change has become increasingly mired in a blizzard of political disinformation waged by powerful industry-funded lobbyists. With environmental voices struggling to be heard through the roar of fossil fuel media spin and the credibility of climate scientists under attack, respite had to come from someone who can influence business and politics in the US. As one of the world's most successful business leaders, especially in ICT and high-tech sectors, Bill Gates has the credentials and the audience to have an impact. As Alex Steffan cogently observed in his article on Gates' talk "when we talk zero, we sound crazy. When Bill Gates does it, bankers pick up the phone." In a more democratic world, this wouldn't be the case, but in our world and especially in the US, this rings true. Even if we don't agree with everything he says (especially the bit about a nuclear waste energy "miracle"), Gates' call for zero is absolutely a breath of fresh air in a CO2-toxic space.
2: Climate change and poverty go together
Since leaving his full-time job at Microsoft, Bill Gates has forged another reputation: as one of the world's leading philanthropists via The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As yet, climate has not been their priority. As Gates highlighted in his 2009 TED Talk on malaria and education, the "market" does not naturally deal with many problems that exist in the world; he mentioned, for example, that more money is spent annually on baldness research than on malaria, which kills 2,000 children in Africa every day. Having devoted the foundation's efforts so far to poverty reduction and improving public health in developing countries, Gates now acknowledges that the destructive impacts of climate change can undo all that is achieved in these areas. In other words, we must have a solution to stop climate change, in order for all the other work aimed at reducing terrible human suffering to be achieved. Re-establishing this link, for the sake of all those who think we can have one without the other, is really crucial.
Gates received a standing ovation at the end of his talk. Photo: Nancy Duarte.
3: Technology for zero carbon societies
It goes without saying that Gates' opinion with regard to technology, its possibilities and opportunities, is one the industry responds to. To get the kind of investment in clean energy we need in order to stop climate change, investors and politicians have to have vision. So far, ICT leaders have inched towards it, talking about efficiency and emissions reductions, but no one from the sector has called for zero carbon emissions. Not only by saying "we need this" but also "we can do this," Gates has effectively put on the table possibility - which otherwise might never have got into the building.
As an individual straddling the nexus of politics, wealth, technology and poverty reduction, a message from Gates has the potential to cascade into all the right networks and forums. Not only is it important to have him speaking in favour of action on climate change, it is refreshing to have the bar on standards raised, even as nations meanwhile have been sliding backwards from their "small efforts" to "yet smaller efforts." Indeed, why get so hung up discussing emissions reductions, if you can abolish emissions altogether? Sometimes it's nice to think beyond one's dinner plate.
Photos: see more slides from Bill Gates' yet-to-be-made-public TED talk at http://blog.duarte.com