Bill Gates, the world's richest man, led a group of philanthropists in vowing to plow $2 billion into clean energy through personal investments and a new fund to be set up next year.
Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp., will be joined by 26 private investors and the University of California in the so- called Breakthrough Energy Coalition, he said in a briefing Monday as United Nations climate talks begin in Paris. Other contributors include Africa's richest man, Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote; Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman and founder Jack Ma and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman.
When people focus on changing the world's energy systems to eliminate carbon emissions, "the real question is what sort of premium cost is there?" Gates said. By directing "significant resources" toward research, "I get optimistic we can bring that premium down to zero and really solve the problem."