Tech billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates has called for a major rethink of the global response to climate change, arguing that humanity should focus less on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and more on alleviating poverty and preventing disease.
In a 17-page memo released on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder said climate change, though a serious challenge, "will not be the end of civilization."
He believes that innovation, not fear, will ultimately curb global warming, and that the world must now make a "strategic pivot" towards protecting the most vulnerable populations.
"If I had to choose between eradicating malaria and preventing a tenth of a degree of warming, I’d let the temperature rise. People don’t understand the suffering that exists today," Gates told reporters.
Gates’ intervention comes ahead of next month’s United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Brazil, where he hopes his message will shift the tone of the global climate debate.
He questioned whether the limited funds allocated for climate action are truly being spent in ways that most improve lives.
The billionaire philanthropist now spends most of his time on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has channelled tens of billions of dollars into global health, education, and development projects.
He also founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015 to drive innovation in clean technologies such as green steel, sustainable cement, and renewable energy storage.
While Gates’ memo has gathered widespread attention, it has also drawn sharp criticism from leading scientists.
Jeffrey Sachs, a development economist at Columbia University, dismissed the proposal as "pointless, vague, unhelpful and confusing," arguing that poverty reduction and climate action are not mutually exclusive.
"Both are utterly feasible if the Big Oil lobby is brought under control," he said.
Other experts acknowledged Gates’ call for pragmatism but warned against underestimating the escalating dangers of global warming.
"Every fraction of a degree matters. "It’s not a choice between health and climate, we have to address both," said Kristie Ebi, a public health and climate researcher at the University of Washington.
Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University added: "Climate change is already wreaking havoc on the natural world. Can we truly live in a technological bubble?"
Gates maintains that technological progress is already helping avert worst-case scenarios, pointing to advances in renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, as examples of how innovation can outpace pessimistic predictions.
Artificial intelligence (AI), he noted, is also accelerating breakthroughs in clean energy, but he warned that foreign aid to help developing countries adapt to climate change is shrinking, largely due to cuts led by wealthy nations such as the United States (US).
He lamented that Gavi, a vaccine alliance supported by his foundation, will have 25 per cent less funding over the next five years.
"Health and prosperity are the best defences against climate change," Gates wrote, citing research showing that projected deaths from climate impacts could fall by more than half when accounting for global economic growth this century.
In his concluding remarks, Gates urged governments to rigorously assess the effectiveness of every dollar spent on climate initiatives.
"If you’re spending millions to remove a few thousand tons of carbon emissions, that just doesn’t make the cut," he said.
Despite anticipating backlash, Gates said his goal is to inject realism into the climate conversation: a "pragmatic view" that blends innovation, compassion, and measurable impact.
"Climate change matters, but so do the millions who are already suffering in a world that’s too poor, too sick, and too unequal to face it head-on," he said.
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