4 Famous Billionaires Fighting Climate Change Many of the world's richest people are doing their bit by donating money and investing in causes that can tackle climate change. Here are four such billionaires who have done a significant amount to combat this problem.
By Kabir Singh Bhandari •
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Climate change is affecting human lives in different ways. The essentials of good health such as clean air and safe drinking water are reducing rapidly and between 2030-2050 climate change has been predicted to lead to roughly 250 000 more deaths annually due to malaria, heat stress, malnutrition and diarrhoea. Countries which do not have a strong health infrastructure will be in a dangerous place.
In this scenario the more awareness one can create around climate change will only help, as more people get to know about it and start acting to prevent this disaster from happening. At the same time, many of the world's richest people are doing their bit by donating money and investing in causes that can tackle climate change. Here are four such billionaires who have done a significant amount to combat this problem.
1. Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been heavily involved in the fight against climate change, whether it be Amazon's Climate Pledge, cofounded with the Global Optimism group, or his own Bezos Earth Fund. The aim of The Climate Pledge is to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Amazon is believed to be the world's chief purchaser of renewable energy and they have set personal targets such as organizing 100,000 electric vehicles for its deliveries by 2030. Bezos had also joined a number of top shot investors led by Bill Gates to launch Breakthrough Energy Ventures in 2016, its aim being to invest a minimum of $1 billion in companies which were creating new zero-emissions technologies.
2. Bernard Arnault
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French businessman and art collector who is the chairman LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE. Through LVMH Initiatives For the Environment (LIFE) program, renamed as LIFE 360, it has set out on a target of achieving 100 per cent renewable energy usage and eradicating fossil-based virgin plastic in packaging by 2026.
However, in 2019 we got a glimpse into his views on sustainability when he criticized climate activist Greta Thunberg, saying she had, "surrendering completely to catastrophism," also adding: "I prefer positive solutions that allow us to get towards a more optimistic position."
3. Elon Musk
Although Musk is currently in the news for taking over Twitter, carbon removal is a cause he deeply cares about. He has previously pledged $100 million to the non-profit organization XPrize for a four-year competition which is for seeking solutions to "collectively achieve the 10 gigaton per year carbon removal target by 2050."
4. Bill Gates
In 2019, Microsoft had set a target of sourcing 100 per cent renewable electricity through 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity per unit of revenue 30 per cent by 2030. Gates is one of the most vocal billionaires when it comes to talking about climate change investment and charity. How To Avoid A Climate Disaster is a book written by him on the subject.
