I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot

<p>Money talks – and his essay denouncing ‘near-term emissions goals’ at Cop30 mostly argues the case for letting the ultra-rich off the hook</p><p>Let’s begin with the fundamental problem: Bill Gates is a politics denier. Though he came to it late, he now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/books/review/bill-gates-how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster.html">accepts the realities of climate science</a>. But he lives in flat, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/13/optimism-climate-predictions-techno-polluters">embarrassing denial about political realities</a>. His <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/home/home-page-topic/reader/three-tough-truths-about-climate">latest essay</a> on climate, published last week, treats the issue as if it existed in a political vacuum. He writes as if there were no such thing as political power, and no such thing as billionaires.</p><p>His main contention is that funds are very limited, so the delegates at this month’s <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop30">climate summit</a> in Brazil should direct money away from “near-term emissions goals” towards climate “adaptation” and spending on poverty and disease.</p><p>George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/08/bill-gates-climate-crisis-billionaire-essay-cop30">Continue reading...</a>