Bill Gates during the 11th breakthrough ceremony held in Barker Hanger on April 05, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo of Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images)
Gilbert Flores | Variety | Getty images
Singapore – Rich countries “owe to the world” to go to zero net emissions, according to Microsoft The founder Bill Gates.
Gates, who is also president of the Gates non -profit foundation, was speaking during the opening of the ecospecity in Singapore on Monday, the flagship event of sustainability for the state investor Temasek.
In a conversation by the fireside with the Singapore ambassador for climate action Ravi Menon, Gates said that rich countries had to go to Net Zero, that “the whole world arrives (net zero)”.
“There are emission levels that are low enough for temperature to aggravate is not a problem,” he said.
Consequently, it is not essential for all countries to reach “an absolute zero”, but richer countries must do so in order to show that there are solutions to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.
Net zero is defined by the United Nations Like “cut carbon emissions to a small amount of residual emissions that can be absorbed and permanently stored by nature and other carbon dioxide removal measures, leaving zero in the atmosphere”.
Gates has also called on the world to be more daring with innovation investments that seek to fight climate change, saying that even if he believed innovation a lot, “the idea that the whole world will get (not zero) by 2050 is not realistic”.
The UN said that to maintain global warming at no more than 1.5 ° C – as planned in the Paris Agreement – The emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
“The sooner we get there, the better. (But) we need examples.” Gates said, stressing that the main obstacles include securing risk capital to finance these solutions.
Gates also met on Monday also met the Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong, who said that in the Gates Foundation, would organize an office in the city state.
“We have had a great conversation on future challenges, from the energy specific to the development of vaccines. Singapore is eager to work closely with the Gates Foundation to advance innovation and improve lives – here in Asia and in the world,” said Wong said In a Facebook publication.
The former CEO of Microsoft also met the main minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, to discuss how the foundation could work with more entities in the country, such as universities.
“We welcome Gates Foundation and others to continue to bring their businesses and their interests here to Singapore and to invest in our ecosystem and to deepen our links with the region”, Lee said In an article on Facebook.
