Key Points:
Bill Gates shifts stance on climate change, urges focus on poverty and hunger instead.
Gates criticized the ‘doomsday’ outlook and claimed that excessive focus on emission targets diverts resources from real solutions.
Donald Trump praised Gates’ remarks, calling them proof that climate change fears are exaggerated.
Billionaire business mogul Bill Gates has recently taken a softer stance on the perennial issue of climate change. His sudden shift from warning everyone about the climate crisis to urging people to direct resources toward other issues has garnered widespread attention. The Microsoft co-founder’s recent comments follow a statement by the United Nations.
Earlier this week, the UN stated that humanity has failed to achieve its target of limiting global heating to 1.5°C. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, humankind will face “devastating consequences” due to this setback.
On October 27, 2025, he wrote a memo on his GatesNotes website, where he dismissed the ‘doomsday’ perspective on climate change and implied that the focus on cutting emissions has been excessive.
See Also: Trump Calls Modi ‘Tough as Hell,’ Hints at Major U.S.-India Trade Deal Soon
Gates further wrote that the climate community has diverted too much of its focus toward emission goals. “It’s diverting resources from the most effective things we should be doing to improve life in a warming world,” wrote Bill Gates.
According to the memo written by the billionaire businessman, attention should instead be directed toward poverty and hunger, which he described as the biggest challenges humanity has always faced.
He said, “Although climate change will have serious consequences – particularly for people in the poorest countries – it will not lead to humanity’s demise.” He further added that humans will be able to thrive on the planet for the "foreseeable future.”
In the memo, he also hinted that the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP30, to be held in November in Belém, Brazil, should be seen as an opportunity.
The main focus of the summit, he suggested, could be shifted to what really matters instead of targeting emissions and temperature goals. Gates’ viewpoint and his sudden change in stance have been subjected to criticism by many. Several users on social media questioned the sudden change of heart by the Microsoft co-founder.
One user wrote, “Wonder why the change of heart.” Another user criticized the businessman for changing his opinion suddenly, saying, “He changed his opinion because there’s no longer any money to be made in the alarmism.”
Following Gates’ statement, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account on October 30, 2025, about the “hoax” of climate change. Trump has always maintained that climate change is a hoax. He ridiculed the crisis as the “greatest con job ever” at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2025.
He posted that he (we) had won the debate, referencing Bill Gates’ memo where Gates claimed that a warming world would not lead to the death of civilization. He wrote in his post,
“I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax.”
He further added on the matter, stating that Gates’ previous hypothesis was incorrect. “Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue,” wrote Trump.
Bill Gates has been an active voice for climate change for decades now. It has been four years since he authored his book ‘‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2021)’. Gates emphasized in his recent memo that climate change “will have serious consequences” for the people residing in the “poorest” countries. However, he accentuated that climate change will not be the reason for the demise of humankind.
[Rh]
Suggested Reading:
