Tech giants – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma from Alibaba, along with other international tech leaders – have announced they’re coming together to combat climate change.
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition, comprising of more than 25 investors from 10 countries, hopes to inspire a new model of public-private partnership between governments, research institutions, and investors. Their focus will be on early stage companies that have the potential of an energy future that produces near zero carbon emissions and provides everyone with affordable, reliable energy.
The initiative has been announced in conjunction with Mission Innovation — an effort from 21 governments, including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Germany, China, and Brazil, to double the amount of public money going into clean energy innovation.
The plan was announced by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg through a Facebook post to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris this week.
Also this week, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom entered into a joint agreement pledging US $5 billion to reduce carbon emissions caused by tropical deforestation, known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) under the UNFCCC. The countries plan to increase their annual support to around $800 million per year starting in 2015, with finance reaching $1 billion per year by 2020.
The announcement is a significant policy signal placing high-level importance on forests in the plans to fight climate change. In addition to partnering with progressive governments, the aim will be to work closely with local communities, civil society, and multilateral and private sector partners to take forward the ambitious pledges made.