Video source: YouTube, Bloomberg Technology

Bill Gates wants to work more closely with Amazon.com Inc chief executive officer Jeff Bezos to combat the growing climate crisis by helping to make green products more accessible, according to Bloomberg Technology

During an interview Monday with the outlet, the Microsoft co-founder said he believes the effects of climate change could eventually eclipse those of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of fatalities and overall global impact, which is why it is critical for the world “to invest in advance for problems that come later."

“The deaths will just go up over time as you get more heat waves, forest fires and, most importantly, lose the ability to go outdoors and do farming anywhere near the equator,” said Gates, who released his latest book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, earlier this month.

In hopes of mitigating the impact, Gates and Bezos – two of the richest people on the planet – have both invested billions in clean energy innovation in recent years. 

In December, Bezos’ Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures were among the investors who contributed a combined $37.7 million to ZeroAvia, a startup company that is working to develop hydrogen technology.    

Gates told Bloomberg that the price of early-stage green technologies is too high for regular consumers and government agencies, but investors like himself and Bezos can use their capital to increase demand and bring the prices down to a level that makes the product more attainable for everyone. 

“The idea of how you create a demand side for these green products – even in the early stage where their green premium is very high – that's something I've realized is one of the missing pieces,” Gates said. “We want to bring companies and governments in on that but having a strong base of philanthropic capital to get it started would be fantastic.”

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Source: Equities News