Suddenly, Bill Gates is admitting that climate change won’t lead to “humanity’s demise” after all. After years of joining other climate alarmists in warning of impending “disaster,” he now offers a more measured perspective—one that comes as the West burned trillions on “decarbonizing” efforts and steered economies toward what some describe as the stone age.
The “doomsday view” that “cataclysmic climate change will decimate civilization” is, according to the Microsoft co-founder, “wrong.” Gates writes that people will “be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.” This marks a significant shift from his 2021 book, *How to Avoid a Climate Disaster*, which predicted that global warming “could be worse” than COVID-19.
Previously, Gates warned that climate change “will be one of the greatest challenges humans have ever taken on,” calling it greater than landing on the moon, eradicating smallpox, or even “putting a computer on every desk.” While he still considers it a “serious” problem, Gates now admits that “the doomsday outlook is causing much of the climate community to focus too much on near-term emissions goals” and is “diverting resources from the most effective things we should be doing to improve life in a warming world.”
This perspective aligns closely with what moderates, such as economist Bjorn Lomborg, and many conservatives have argued for years. The chief goal, they say, should be “improving lives” rather than trying to eliminate all carbon-fuel use—especially when countries like China continue building coal plants relentlessly.
Like Lomborg, Gates now acknowledges that greater “prosperity” enables humanity to cope effectively as the planet warms: “The faster people become prosperous and healthy, the more lives we can save.” For example, air conditioning, despite increasing emissions, allows people to escape extreme heat and avoid heat-related sickness and death.
However, it is worth noting that Gates has spent much of the past four years effectively endorsing efforts by the left to push Western nations toward “net zero” carbon emissions—a pursuit that some argue kills prosperity and spreads misery. Western Europe, in particular, has hamstrung itself through heavy reliance on wind and solar power. Germany’s decision to shutter its nuclear plants has contributed to its economy contracting for the second year in a row in 2024.
Despite all the self-inflicted economic damage, global emissions and temperatures continue to rise, raising questions about the effectiveness of current strategies.
In summary, Gates’s recent admissions reinforce calls for a more balanced approach to climate policy—one that prioritizes human well-being and prosperity while addressing environmental challenges pragmatically.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/opinion/bill-gates-sees-the-light-on-global-warming-but-will-lefty-climate-warriors-follow-suit/
