The White House said it was “essential” to increase clean energy innovation in order to limit global temperature increases to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (two Celsius) above pre-industrial levels, the United Nations target ceiling.
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Nineteen countries have agreed to a historic level of worldwide public funding for clean energy research, as announced at the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris on Monday.
Gates is launching a multi-billion dollar clean-energy initiative at the summit.
Tech Crunch also added in their report that the Breakthrough Energy Coalition will work with another energy research organization known as Mission Innovation.
“Zuckerberg, who, on December 2, promised his newborn daughter Maxima that he will donate 99% (amounting to $45 billion) of his Facebook shares, said, “… we believe that building a positive future for the next generation also means investing in long term projects that companies and governments don’t fund”.
A couple of well-known business professionals have joined together to create the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, which will be focused on investing in new clean energy technologies. The participating countries in the initiative – which include China, India, Brazil, and France, among others – contribute about 75 percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions and more than 80 percent of global clean energy research and development investments, according to a Department of Energy statement.
The fund will support a wide range of technologies, Mr. Gates said.
Other members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition include Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Ratan Tata, retired chairman of India’s Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, and South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe of African Rainbow Minerals.
Along with U.S. President Barack Obama, Gates is expected to announce a separate clean energy project at the Paris climate change conference.
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“More capital at the early stage is going to drive the breakthroughs that will drive costs down”, said Brian Deese, Obama’s senior adviser on climate change, to reporters in Washington.
