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Many climate experts have called for greater focus on helping people adapt to climate-amplified extreme weather as emissions cuts fail to materialise quickly enough, leading to worse and more frequent natural disasters. Gates’ intervention, ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, echoes demands made by poorer countries for more funding to support early warning systems, more resilient food and water supplies, and health care infrastructure. It’s also an area of growing interest for investors. Wealthier regions including Europe also face growing threats from extreme weather, Irene Heemskerk, head of the climate change centre at the European Central Bank, said at an event on Tuesday. Water scarcity and floods “are putting the economic output of Europe at risk,” she said. Speaking on CNBC on Tuesday morning, Gates said his latest assessment of the climate problem was partly motivated by cuts to aid budgets made by the Trump administration and other rich countries. “The plea here is to say, OK, let’s take that very limited money and not have some partitioned off for particular causes.” He described the US government’s decision to cut climate and clean energy programs a “huge disappointment.” Gates said his views on the necessity of the Paris climate agreement and the need for companies to lower their emissions have not changed. “I’m a climate activist, but I’m also a child survival activist,” he said.
