Bill Gates demands tougher action on climate change and cuts to fuel emissions

US billionaire Bill Gates has told a sustainability conference that 'Teslas and wind turbines alone will not save the world'.

The entrepreneur told the virtual audience that new innovations are needed to replace polluting activities.

“The idea you can do this thing without innovation [is unrealistic]. Are people just thinking about electricity and passenger cars? That’s not even 25 per cent of emissions,” he said.

Asked if he was saying that Tesla electric cars and wind power would not solve all our environmental problems he said they would not. “The cement emissions, the steel emissions — those are completely unaddressed by any existing technology,” Gates said.

Gates said developments like fusion power, which he has invested in, and producing hydrogen in a low carbon way was attracting 'high interest' - and shared that he ambitious plans to connect Australian solar power farms to Singapore via undersea cables.

He went on to add that short term action on climate change was 'underwhelming' and that cuts to fuel em

But he conceded that short-term action on climate change was underwhelming and said that cuts to emissions had been disappointing.

“Even in the United States, we have coal plants that are going to be in use a lot longer,” he said.

Gates said that Egypt, as host of next month’s Cop27 climate summit, had the opportunity to put adaptation to a warming world higher up the agenda. “The farmers near the equator deserve dramatically better seeds and better credit and advice, so they don’t become the first victims of climate change,” he said.