Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will become a grandfather next year and he’s emotional at the thought that the next generation will grow up in a world worse off given the climate crisis at hand.

“When I think about the world my grandchild will be born into, I’m more inspired than ever to help everyone’s children and grandchildren have a chance to survive and thrive,” he wrote , he said in a letter published overnight on his personal blog, Gates Notes.

He noted that the current leaders’ response to climate change will impact future generations. He said he could sum up the solution to climate change in two sentences.

“We need to eliminate global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Extreme weather is already causing more suffering, and if we don’t get to net-zero emissions, our grandchildren will grow up in a world that is dramatically worse off,” he said.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh's proposal on removal of toxic waste from Union Carbide forwarded to Environment Ministry

Gates, who earned his fortune by co-founding Microsoft in 1970, is expecting a grandchild from his 26-year-old daughter Jennifer and her husband Nayel Nassar in 2023.

In the blog, Gates also highlighted his endeveours to battle climate change through the Gates Foundation and his investment company Breakthrough Energy Ventures that supports startup climate enterprises.

Getting to zero will be the hardest thing humans have ever done, Gates wrote, adding “We need to revolutionise the entire physical economy — how we make things, move around, produce electricity, grow food, and stay warm and cool — in less than three decades.”

Also read: 30-by-30: What is a COP15 'peace pact' and why are some regions objecting to it

In the blog, Gates also mentioned that he has learned about difficulties faced by small farmers in nations where his namesake charitable organisations were operating and therefore, he decided to concentrate on addressing climate change. The Gates Foundation finances efforts to assist people adapt to the effects of global warming in areas where a commercial firm cannot turn a profit.

“It starts from the idea that the poorest are suffering the most from climate change, but businesses don’t have a natural incentive to make tools that help them,” he said.

“A seed company can earn profits from, say, a new type of tomato that’s a nicer shade of red and doesn’t bruise easily, but it has no incentive to make better strains of cassava that (a) survive floods and droughts and (b) are cheap enough for the world’s low-income farmers,” Gates said, explaining that the foundation’s role is to make sure that the poorest benefit from the same innovative skills that benefit richer countries.

Also read: How Gujarat is spearheading India's solar power boom

However, Gates claims that even his enormous finances cannot solve the challenge of decarbonising the world's industries. “Philanthropy alone can’t eliminate greenhouse gases. Only markets and governments can achieve that kind of pace and scale,” he said.

He said all proceeds from his investments in Breakthrough Energy firms would be reinvested in climate change initiatives or his charitable foundation. Additionally, if organisations tackling climate change are able to support themselves, other investors will be more inclined to invest in them.

“Companies need to be profitable so they can grow, keep running, and prove that there’s a market for their products,” Gates wrote. “The profit incentive will attract other innovators, creating competition that will drive down the prices of zero-emissions inventions and have a meaningful impact on emissions from buildings.”

The bad news, however, is greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing and the world is falling short on near-term goals. Between 2021 and 2022, global emissions rose from 51 billion tons of carbon equivalents to 52 billion tons, he pointed out.

Gates’ blog comes a day after the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the global emissions gap is growing and the 1.5-degree goal is gasping for breath. National climate plans are falling woefully short, he said

Despite the dire situation, Gates remains upbeat about the growing investment in decarbonization technology. “We’re much further along than I would have predicted a few years ago on getting companies to invest in zero-carbon breakthroughs,” he said.

According to Gates, public funding for climate research and development has increased by a third since the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and laws passed this year in the United States will allocate $500 billion toward transitioning the country's energy infrastructure away from fossil fuel-based sources.

Climate technology investments from the private sector are also growing rapidly. According to him, venture capital companies have invested $70 billion in sustainable energy technologies during the last two years.

Also read: Fog engulfs Delhi, affecting train services and road traffic — cold wave likely to prevail in these states