Gates Fears Climate Funds Could Siphon Money from Health Programs

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose charitable foundation is the world’s largest, said he is concerned that an initiative by wealthy nations to give billions of dollars a year to poorer nations to adapt to climate change could divert badly needed funds from health care programs. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of $34 billion, gives away hundreds of millions of dollars a year to fight malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases in developing countries. Referring to a plan by wealthy nations to eventually spend $100 billion a year on climate adaptation programs in developing nations, Gates said, “I am concerned that some of this money will come from reducing other categories of foreign aid, especially health. If just 1 percent of the $100 billion goal came from vaccine funding, then 700,000 more children could die from preventable diseases.” Gates’ statement, released in a letter, also said that health care spending would reduce climate impacts because family planning programs lead to smaller families, “which in turn reduces the strain on the environment.”