Bill & Melinda Gates speak about funding climate change


Every year, the world’s most influential philanthropist couple, Bill and Melinda Gates, release an annual letter detailing what continues to motivate them to give so much money towards various causes around the world.  In the 2018 Annual Letter, they have focused on what they refer to as “The 10 Toughest Questions We Get.”

The questions come through various social media platforms such as Twitter and Linked and from people writing from different countries focusing on various dimensions of development. The couple then responds from their respective perspectives giving candid answers and using the opportunity to share what drives their philanthropic work which they carry out through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Out of the 10 questions, question number three in the 2018 Annual Letter focuses on climate change: “Why don’t you give money to fight climate change? To this, Bill Gates responds in part: “Personally, we’re investing in innovations that will cut back on greenhouse gases (what’s called climate-change mitigation). The world needs new sources of reliable, affordable clean energy, but it has been dramatically underfunding the research that would produce these breakthroughs.”

He goes on to say that he has contributed to a private investment fund known as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which supports research and development of clean energy technologies. It is also involved in bringing about better coordination of private spending on green energy around the world and hence contributing towards climate change mitigation.

Green energy is the type of energy that does not result in emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and usually comes from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydro and solar. According to the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries made commitments and set targets for themselves towards significantly reducing GHGs emissions over the period up to 2030. Reduction of GHGs emission will mainly be achieved by increasing the proportion of green energy and gradually reducing the proportion of energy coming from non-renewable sources, particularly petroleum products and coal. These commitments are referred to as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

In addition to reducing their own GHGs emissions, rich countries promised to support climate change adaptation by making significant contributions to the global Adaptation Fund (AF).  The AF was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is designed to finance climate change adaptation projects and programs based on the priorities of eligible developing countries.

On her part writing in the 2018 Annual Letter, Melinda Gates talks about the need to strengthen climate change adaptation by advancing technologies in agriculture. “The world needs to adapt to what’s happening now and what we know is coming. That’s why our foundation’s work, especially in global agriculture, is increasingly focused on climate issues.”
According to her, hundreds of millions of people in developing countries depend on farming for their livelihoods. They had almost nothing to do with causing climate change, but they will suffer the most from it. “When extreme weather ruins their harvest, they won’t have food to eat that year. They won’t have income to spend on basic necessities like health care and school fees. For smallholder farmers, climate change is not just an ominous global trend. It is a daily emergency.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the main funder of the Alliance for A Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). According to its website, AGRA exists to help achieve the vision of Africa feeding itself. It strives to improve food production in the face of climate change. Part of the approach is to encourage farmers to adopt more drought tolerant crops including replacing maize with other crops such a sorghum, green grams, cowpeas and pigeon peas as a strategy not only to achieve food security but also income of small holder farmers in arid and semi-arid areas.
Going by current reports on the devastating impacts of climate change, particularly the predicted increase in frequency and duration of droughts, countries such as Kenya where these impacts are already evident will need to adapt agricultural production systems that facilitate food production under conditions of water stress. It is therefore encouraging that Kenya has launched a National Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy. This will be the subject of my next post.


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