Dear Bill Gates: 'Will you lead the fight against climate change?'
The Gates Foundation is already helping to tackle polio, HIV,
malaria, sanitation, and much more... which is why we are asking you in
this video to divest from fossil fuels. You can help stop climate
change, says the Guardian’s editor-in-chief
0:00
/
1:35
Dear Bill Gates ... Guardian readers join Alan Rusbridger to call on Gates to help to stop climate change
In 2009, nearly half of the world’s new polio cases were in India.
The disease which can cause paralysis and death is highly infectious,
but by January last year, thanks to a concerted vaccination programme,
the country had gone three years without a single case of the virus. It was officially “polio-free”.
Alan Rusbridger. Photograph: Graeme Robertson
This immense achievement involved many people, including 2 million
vaccinators fanning out across the vast country, but was due in no small
part to the determination of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
whose resources helped make those vaccinations possible. Gates himself
is now betting on eradicating polio entirely from the world by 2018 –
and who would bet against him?
The polio story is one of countless other seemingly intractable
global problems that the Gates Foundation has set its collective mind
and resources to solving – HIV, malaria, sanitation, education,
agriculture. All are in Gates’ sights.
So why would the Guardian launch a climate change campaign aimed at
one of the world’s most valuable and far-sighted organisations? The
answer is, precisely because of that far-sightedness.
Since mid-March, the Guardian’s Keep it in the Ground campaign, in partnership with 350.org, has been calling on the Gates foundation (and also the Wellcome Trust, another global medical charity) to divest its $43.5bn (£28bn) endowment from fossil fuel assets. That would mean moving $1.4bn from oil, coal and gas stocks
into alternatives. The logic is simple, these companies are committed
to prospecting for more fossil fuels at a time when proven reserves are
already far greater than we can afford to safely burn.
We chose to call on the Gates Foundation (which incidentally also
funds the Guardian’s global development coverage) precisely because they
are one of the good guys. They certainly understand the nature of the
climate threat. In their annual letter in January, Bill and Melinda
Gates wrote:
“The long-term threat [of climate change] is so serious that the
world needs to move much more aggressively – right now – to develop
energy sources that are cheaper, can deliver on demand, and emit zero
carbon dioxide.”
We agree. And we’re asking Bill Gates for leadership on a global problem where leaders are in short supply.
That’s where this video comes in. The Keep it in the Ground campaign
is a collection of over 190,000 voices from over 170 countries. When we
asked those supporters to make a personal message to Bill, the result
was an impassioned plea for leadership from around the world.
If the Gates Foundation were to divest, it would send a powerful
signal to fossil fuel companies and to governments that business as
usual is not acceptable. It would also have a huge snowball effect on
other organisations currently considering whether to move their own
money. In short it would be real climate
Dear Bill Gates
Will you lead us in the fight against climate change?
Help us convince Bill Gates that his leadership is desperately
needed. Please watch the video and share it as widely as possible using
#keepitintheground. And, if you haven’t already, sign our petition calling on the Gates Foundation to divest from fossil fuels.
Thanks to the following people who are involved in the video
Shayna (London), Claire (London), Aideen (Co Limerick, Ireland), Bert
(Australia), G Kong (California), Bridie (London), Dave (New York),
Nicola (Milan), Javier (Hawaii), Louise and Amy (Essex, UK), Paul
(London), Nickey and family (Australia), Victoria, Hannah, Holly and
Helen (Bristol, UK), Mathieu (Strasbourg, France) Adam (Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam) Briony (London) Craig, Dave (East Sussex) Fossil Free
Bristol, George, Nickey (Australia), Paul (Amsterdam), Peter (Brighton),
Sharon Lee, Neil (Ipswich) Somy (London), David (London), Camille,
Monica, and Andrew (London), Jenny (London) Lima, Tim and the children
of Mulgrave Primary School (Woolwich, London) and Richard.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário