Next month, government officials, policymakers, and activists will flock to Belém, Brazil, for the United Nations' annual climate change summit. In the past, these conferences have focused on wealth distribution schemes and transitioning from fossil fuels. At this year's conference, Bill Gates is advocating for a different strategy: shifting the primary focus away from climate change altogether.
On Monday, the Microsoft co-founder penned a letter on his blog, Gates Notes, that argued for adopting "a different view and adjust[ing] our strategies for dealing with climate change." Specifically, Gates said, the world has "a chance to refocus on the metric that should count even more than emissions and temperature change: improving lives. Our chief goal should be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions who live in the world's poorest countries."
