Billionaire investor and philanthropist Bill Gates called on world leaders on Tuesday to adapt to extreme weather and focus on improving health outcomes rather than temperature reduction targets ahead of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil.
COP30 will be held November 10-21 in the port city of Belem in Brazil's lower Amazon region. Countries are due to present updated national climate commitments and assess progress on renewable energy targets agreed at previous summits.
The world has spent the last decade working towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average by mid-century - something that remains well off-track.
While climate change was serious, it was "not civilization-ending", Gates posted on his personal blog. He wrote that rather than focus on temperature as the best measure of progress, climate resilience would be better built by strengthening health and prosperity.
He called for a shift in focus toward improving human welfare, particularly in vulnerable regions, through investments in energy access, healthcare, and agricultural resilience.
These areas, he argued, offered more equitable benefits than temperature goals and should be central to climate strategies discussed at COP30.
Gates, who has invested billions to accelerate clean technology innovation through his climate-focused venture network, Breakthrough Energy, also challenged policymakers and donors to scrutinise whether climate aid was being spent effectively.
He urged them to use data to maximise impact, and called on investors to back companies developing high-impact clean technologies so they could more quickly lower costs.
He said direct deaths from natural disasters have fallen 90% over the last century to between 40,000 and 50,000 annually, largely due to better warning systems and more resilient infrastructure.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the World Meteorological Organization last week urged countries to implement disaster warning systems to protect people against extreme weather.
The WMO said that in the past five decades, weather, water and climate-related hazards have killed more than 2 million people, with 90% of those deaths occurring in developing countries.
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Tensions between Washington and Tehran have found a new focal point regarding border control, as the Iranian government confirmed on Sunday that a fresh wave of nationals expelled from the United States is due to arrive within days.
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Lava fountains shot from Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano from dawn to dusk on Saturday, with new footage showing intensifying activity at the north vent.
Indonesia's military stepped up its relief efforts in three provinces on Sumatra island that have been devastated by deadly floods and landslides, and the country's vice president apologised for shortcomings in the response to last week's disaster.
Authorities in Senegal have launched urgent measures to prevent a potential oil spill after water entered the engine room of the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Mersin off the coast of Dakar, the port authority said on Sunday.
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Rescuers in Thailand readied drones on Thursday to airdrop food parcels, as receding floodwaters in the south and neighbouring Malaysia brightened hopes for the evacuation of those stranded for days, while cyclone havoc in Indonesia killed at least 28.
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