Al Gore has speculated that fear of bullying by Donald Trump may have prompted Bill Gates to row back on the climate crisis, as the former US vice-president slammed the billionaire’s new position as “silly”. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian at the Cop30 UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil, Gore also criticised Trump for his anti-climate stance, calling him “the most corrupt president in American history” and warning he was “badly damaging the US economy” by promoting fossil fuels.
Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, made waves when he publicly argued for pushing the climate crisis down the international agenda in favour of health issues. Gore said: “The idea of slowing down on climate again, every climate scientist that I know and respect just threw up their hands and said: ‘What in the world is he thinking?’” He noted that after Trump’s re-election, Gates fired most of his climate staffers and praised Trump, then issued statements that puzzled climate advocates.
Gore suggested Gates might be scared of Trump, saying: “It may be that he is really worried that Trump will bully him the way he has bullied other ultra-wealthy business people.” Trump responded to Gates’s reversal with praise on social media. Gore added: “The only rave review of what he put out last week was from Donald Trump. Yeah, Trump loves it. That may be what Gates was shooting for.”
Gore rejected the idea of a binary choice between climate and health, citing the World Health Organisation’s view that climate is the number one health threat. He said: “The idea that there is a binary choice between health and climate is an idea that’s been roundly rejected by virtually every scientist in this field.” He argued that instead of cutting climate action, governments should redirect hundreds of billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies to health.
Gore also defended the UN Cop process, saying it accomplishes more than it is given credit for, serving as a nucleus for industry, NGO, and civil society groups to advance agreements. He noted that industries and governments are pushing ahead with renewable energy and low-carbon initiatives, and that the achievements of each Cop are cumulative.
