Bill Gates Laments World Going Backwards

A couple of months ago, Bill Gates wrote a blog post about how climate change emissions projections have gone down. Steve Hanley wrote an article with a response.

‘“Fortunately for all of us, this view is wrong,” Gates wrote. “Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries — it will not lead to humanity’s demise. People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future. Emissions projections have gone down, and with the right policies and investments, innovation will allow us to drive emissions down much further.” [We call bullshit on that last sentence.]

In the US, carbon emissions actually increased recently. “In a reversal from previous years’ pollution reductions, the United States spewed 2.4% more heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels in 2025 than in the year before, researchers calculated in a study released on Tuesday.”

“The increase in greenhouse gas emissions is attributable to a combination of a cool winter, the explosive growth of datacenters and cryptocurrency mining, and higher natural gas prices, according to the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm.”

A person might assume the US increase resulted from President Trump’s insistence on keeping coal power plants running, but so far, that data has not been collected, studied, and published. In fact, that effect might contribute to greater emissions still, but may not have been documented yet.

Gates has donated tremendous amounts of money and attention to helping prevent infectious diseases and premature human deaths. He might not be as attentive to what is happening with climate change impacts. The fact that climate change may not drive humans into extinction does not mean it will not cause profound human loss of life and suffering and therefore is still a huge problem, and a global one. Furthermore, there are other species on this planet that are being harmed and some are being driven into extinction. Climate change does not only harm humans, it harms every species on the plant and entire ecosystems. Steve Hanley wrote an article about how one of the worst tropical storms recorded just happened and hit Jamaica hard. Climate change drives worse tropical storms, which can be devastating.

Perhaps Gates is more focused on the international public health perspective though. Recently, a Fortune writer quoted his expressing dismay at how there has been a setback in protecting the lives of children in need. “The thing I am most upset about is the fact that the world went backwards last year on a key metric of progress: the number of deaths of children under five years old. Over the last 25 years, those deaths went down faster than at any other point in history. But in 2025, they went up for the first time this century, from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025—an increase driven by less support from rich countries to poor countries.”

I believe he was referencing the elimination of financial support and international aid that was lost because of Trump and Musk. “As a philanthropist who has dedicated billions to improving everything from healthcare and education in poor countries to climate change action, Gates could only watch as the Trump administration slashed swathes of foreign aid contracts.”

“The Microsoft co-founder has criticized the cost-cutting regime, much of which was enacted under Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He warned the action could directly result in the death of children, a claim which Tesla CEO Musk demanded evidence.”

There have been estimates made about how many people have died or will die because of the withdrawal of foreign aid. “Nichols’s estimates, which focused on 42 percent of the former USAID budget, found that, as of June 26, 332,553 people have died worldwide, including 224,575 children.” 

“As USAID offices officially close on Tuesday, researchers other than Nichols are sharing their own estimates of the impact of dismantled USAID programs.

“An analysis by a 15-member research team from Spain, Brazil, Mozambique and the US, published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet, estimates more than 14 million people could die by 2030 as a result of USAID cuts, including 4.5 million children younger than 5 years old.”

CleanTechnica is not a health website; it’s about sustainability. However, there are connections between climate change, fossil fuel pollution, and human health.

Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths every year and a good amount of that air pollution is generated by the use of fossil fuels. “Almost 2,000 children under the age of five die every day because of air pollution, according to the latest State of Global Air (SoGA). Yet, the annual total of 700,000 deaths is a fraction of the 8.1 million lives lost because of air pollution. While there is a silver lining that some progress has been made, SoGA has several messages of concern for governments and citizens, especially parents.”

Fossil fuels are also the primary contributor to climate change and its impacts. Is Mr. Gates aware that fossil fuel air pollution kills and sickens millions of people each year and it contributes to climate change impacts? Air pollution is not only carbon emissions; there are many other pollutants that also harm human health and cause premature human deaths.

President Trump also reportedly received a huge amount of money for his presidential campaign from oil and gas executives. Again, fossil fuels are an integral part of the Trump Administration’s mindset, which is responsible for making the foreign aid cuts that Gates appeared to lament. Is he doing anything to help get rid of fossil fuels?

Cover photo:   ChatGPT