Bill Gates Says Climate Change Isn’t Humanity’s End — Urges Focus on Real Progress Metrics Instead

Bill Gates says the world’s fight against climate change should not overshadow urgent efforts to tackle poverty and disease. In a new memo published on his Gates Notes blog, the Microsoft co-founder argued that while global warming remains a significant threat, humanity’s priority should be to reduce suffering across all fronts — and not succumb to a “doomsday outlook.”

“Climate change, disease, and poverty are all major problems,” Gates wrote. “We should deal with them in proportion to the suffering they cause.”

Gates cautioned that excessive focus on near-term emissions goals has sometimes diverted resources away from programs that could directly improve human welfare. “It’s important to keep backing the breakthroughs that will help the world reach zero emissions,” he said, “but not at the cost of funding programs that help people stay resilient in the face of climate change.”

While acknowledging that climate change will bring “serious consequences,” particularly for poorer nations, Gates believes it won’t lead to humanity’s extinction. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future,” he wrote, adding that innovation and sound policy could still drastically reduce emissions.

Gates, whose foundation focuses on health and development in low-income countries, emphasized that global well-being should be the ultimate metric of progress. “The biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been,” he wrote. “Understanding this will let us focus our limited resources on interventions that will have the greatest impact for the most vulnerable people.”

In 2015, Gates founded Breakthrough Energy, a platform dedicated to advancing clean energy innovation. But as he prepares for the upcoming COP30 climate summit, he insists the conversation must broaden: “It’s time to put human welfare at the center of our climate strategies — reducing the Green Premium to zero and improving agriculture and health in poor countries.”

Despite his balanced tone, Gates admitted his views would spark criticism. “I know some climate advocates will call me a hypocrite because of my own carbon footprint, or say I’m downplaying climate change,” he wrote, “but I think this is intellectually the right answer.”

Experts have offered mixed reactions. Kristie Ebi, a climate and health scientist at the University of Washington, said Gates’ optimism about progress might be unrealistic, while Princeton professor Michael Oppenheimer warned that his remarks could be “misused by those who want to undermine climate action.”

Still, Gates stands by his position: “Climate change is a very important problem that needs to be solved,” he wrote. “But improving human lives — no matter where or what climate people are born into — must remain our guiding goal.”