Al Gore Questions Influence on Gates‘ Climate Funding Shift
belém, Brazil – Former Vice President Al Gore has expressed bewilderment over Bill Gates’ recent decision too scale back his climate-focused philanthropic investments, suggesting former President Donald Trump’s public criticism may have played a role. Speaking at teh COP30 climate summit in Belém on Wednesday, Gore characterized the situation as perhaps stemming from “bullying” tactics.
Gore observed a “generational change” in US attitudes toward climate action, even as federal policies have, at times, moved in the opposite direction. He also predicted a potentially less compliant congress for Trump following recent election defeats for Republican candidates, noting that Republican senators have begun to diverge from the former president on key priorities. “The American people spoke pretty loudly and clearly last week, in unexpectedly large landslide defeats for Trump in every election that was on the ballot,” Gore stated.
The former Vice President offered praise for New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, acknowledging differences in policy but highlighting his “stunningly effective campaign” and “impressively on display” political skills.
Gore underscored the continued urgency of the climate crisis, presenting COP30 delegates with a stark visual presentation of recent climate-related disasters globally – including droughts in the Amazon, ice loss in Greenland, and devastating storms in Vietnam, Jamaica, Brazil, the Philippines, and the US. “It is literally insane that we are allowing this to continue,” he said, questioning how long the world would continue to exacerbate the problem. He stressed the need for both adaptation and mitigation, warning that unchecked emissions would create challenges too significant to overcome.
Gore is at COP30 promoting his Climate Trace project, an initiative mapping planet-heating emissions and air pollutants. He emphasized the availability of necessary technology and deployment models, asserting that “political will is a renewable resource.” He countered perceptions of waning climate action, stating, “There’s a wholly false view out there that somehow we are losing ground.”
