Bill Gates Cools the Climate Debate

IN OCTOBER 2025, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates made headlines by declaring that “climate change is a serious problem, but it will not be the end of civilization.” The admission came in a letter to world leaders weeks before COP30, the United Nations’ 30th annual climate change summit, and focused on “adjust[ing] strategies for dealing with climate change.”

- Jeff Luse

The environmental movement has espoused alarmist warnings about humanity’s future for decades, most of which have not panned out, such as Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 prediction that population growth and environmental decline would lead to mass starvation. More recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) warned dubiously in 2019 that “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address” climate change. Now it appears the climate discussion is being carried out with more deliberation and less fear.

Rather than focusing on global temperatures or greenhouse gas emissions, Gates said governments and technologists should worry about a more important metric: improving global living standards. according to Gates, “should be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions who live in the world’s poorest countries.”