Bill Gates and some of the world’s other richest entrepreneurs – including African RainBow Minerals’ Patrice Motsepe – have joined governments from both rich and emerging countries to kick off the Paris climate talks by pledging billions of dollars of investment in clean energy technologies.
The United States, France, India and 17 other countries announced they will double the $10-billion (R144-billion) they collectively spend on clean energy research and development in the next five years, shining a spotlight on the role of technology in any climate agreement reached in Paris.
US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mission Innovation initiative on the first day of the UN climate summit in Paris.
They appeared alongside Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, who will launch a complementary private-sector effort to fast-track early-stage clean energy technologies.
Gates launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group of 28 private investors who hail from Silicon Valley to South Africa, that will invest billions of dollars in “patient, flexible risk capital” to bring riskier new technologies to market.
“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 who announced the private-public sector initiative to reporters in Washington.
Other members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition include Facebook chief executive 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 Motsepe.
Investors want to eliminate the “valley of death” between the early promise of a new energy concept and commercialising it into a viable technology, which “neither government funding nor conventional private investment can bridge”, the group said.
“Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund,” Gates said.
The US government invests about $5-billion (R72-billion) in clean energy R&D. The energy department’s programme has conducted early-stage research into technologies such as advanced batteries, fusion and nanotechnology.
It will now focus on funding early-stage R&D.
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said securing support for more R&D funding may remain a challenge in a Republican-dominated Congress.
Republicans have vowed to push back against Obama’s climate agenda by withholding funds the administration pledges in Paris for climate aid to poor countries.
Moniz said the Obama administration has led “intense diplomatic efforts” among the 20 countries involved.
China – the world’s largest emitter – petro-states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, EU countries, and Canada, Indonesia, Korea and Japan are among the other signatories.
Those countries represent 80% of current global clean energy R&D.
The private-sector group’s initial investments will target electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial use, agriculture and energy efficiency.
$20bn boost for energy initiative
The United States, France, India and 17 other countries announced they will double the $10-billion (R144-billion) they collectively spend on clean energy research and development in the next five years, shining a spotlight on the role of technology in any climate agreement reached in Paris.
US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mission Innovation initiative on the first day of the UN climate summit in Paris.
They appeared alongside Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, who will launch a complementary private-sector effort to fast-track early-stage clean energy technologies.
Gates launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group of 28 private investors who hail from Silicon Valley to South Africa, that will invest billions of dollars in “patient, flexible risk capital” to bring riskier new technologies to market.
“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 who announced the private-public sector initiative to reporters in Washington.
Other members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition include Facebook chief executive 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 Motsepe.
Investors want to eliminate the “valley of death” between the early promise of a new energy concept and commercialising it into a viable technology, which “neither government funding nor conventional private investment can bridge”, the group said.
“Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund,” Gates said.
The US government invests about $5-billion (R72-billion) in clean energy R&D. The energy department’s programme has conducted early-stage research into technologies such as advanced batteries, fusion and nanotechnology.
It will now focus on funding early-stage R&D.
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said securing support for more R&D funding may remain a challenge in a Republican-dominated Congress.
Republicans have vowed to push back against Obama’s climate agenda by withholding funds the administration pledges in Paris for climate aid to poor countries.
Moniz said the Obama administration has led “intense diplomatic efforts” among the 20 countries involved.
China – the world’s largest emitter – petro-states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, EU countries, and Canada, Indonesia, Korea and Japan are among the other signatories.
Those countries represent 80% of current global clean energy R&D.
The private-sector group’s initial investments will target electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial use, agriculture and energy efficiency.
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