Clifty coal powered generating station, Madison, Indiana. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

The fact that billionaire Bill Gates wrote a memo recommending that the world shift its focus on climate (particularly on emissions reductions) to “human welfare”, poverty, and health is getting a lot of media play.

The NY Times gave it prominent attention, a provocative headline, and even a photo (the shovel is apt, because Gates is shoveling a lot of bullshit):

Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’

The best PR money can buy!

Gates is obviously trying to change the subject and he perfectly timed his PR campaign to distract from another disastrous UN Report, released yesterday, which documents the total failure of the entire voluntary commitment based Paris framework: (BBC):

Most countries fail to submit new climate pledges ahead of summit

Only 64 countries have submitted new plans to cut carbon, the UN says, despite all being required to do so ahead of next month’s COP30 summit.

Added together these national pledges would fail to keep the world from warming by more than 1.5C, a key threshold to very dangerous levels of climate change.

While the UN review does show progress in curbing carbon emissions over the next decade, the projected fall is not enough to stop temperatures surging past this global target.

Greenpeace put a rather sharper (and technocratic) point on this........

© CounterPunch