Bill Gates says Australia has a ‘huge role’ in climate change after flying in on his private jet

Bill Gates has told Australia that it has a ‘huge role to play’ in combating climate change despite flying down under in a fuel-guzzling private jet.

But he insists he is not part of the problem regarding private jets polluting the world because of the effort he puts into offsetting his carbon emissions.

The Microsoft co-founder travelled to Australia at the end of last month on board a $70 million Gulfstream private jet that burns around 1,700 litres of fuel per hour.

After arriving on the private jet, Gates went on to preach about the dangers of climate at the big business-funded Lowy Institute think-tank and on the ABC’s 7:30 report show,

He told the Lowy Institute: ‘Climate change is not yet having the negative effects of a disease like malaria, which kills 400,00 children a year.

‘The reason why climate change is worth investing in massively is because it will get worse and worse over time.’

‘If you allow the warming to go to an extreme level, then all sorts of natural ecosystems disappear and all sorts of places in the world you can’t do outdoor work.

‘So the tropical areas, agriculture would be impossible, outdoor work during large parts of the year would be impossible.’

Then the following week, during an interview with the ABC’s 7:30 report he warned: ‘We will have to adapt while we do our very, very best to bring our emissions to zero as fast as we can.

‘Australia has a huge role to play. It’s very lucky, it’ll have some of the cheapest renewable energy in the world.’

When asked how Australia could rank as a global climate leader while remaining one of the world’s biggest exporters of fossil fuels, Gates said: ‘I think Australia will be able to export green hydrogen and other clean products.

‘It’s certainly a country where the opportunity in a green economy is greater than it has been in the past.’

However, Gates’ climate philanthropy versus his taste for luxury travel on private jets has seen him called a ‘climate hypocrite’ with critics stumped on how the multibillionaire can preach about lowering emissions while choosing to jet around the world privately.

During an interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan earlier this month, Gates was asked how he answered people who called him a hypocrite for his jet use. 

‘What do you say to the charge that if you are a climate change campaigner, but you also travel around the world in a private jet, you’re a hypocrite,’ the BBC’s Amol Rajan asked Gates.

The billionaire answered by telling how he throws money at the problem. 

‘Well, I buy the gold standard of funding Climeworks to do direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint,’ he said. 

Gates then went on to talk about all the money he has put into climate research, and that his work is better done when he visits the places his companies are studying first hand.  

‘I spend billions of dollars on climate innovation,’ he said. ‘So, you know, should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria. Anyway.’ 

 He added that he was ‘part of the solution.’

‘I mean, I’m comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem – by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my Breakthrough Energy group is spending, that I’m part of the solution.’ 

Bill Gates’ private jet. He said without it he couldn’t fly to places like Kenya to study climate change 

Gates (above) has been accused of being a ‘climate hypocrite’ for preaching about lowering emissions while travelling the world in his two private planes

‘I mean, I’m comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem – by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my Breakthrough Energy group is spending, that I’m part of the solution.’ 

A single private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in an hour as the average person does in an entire year, with private flights 14 times more polluting (per passenger) than a commercial plane. 

Gates, the fourth richest person in the world, visited Australia in January with representatives from his organisation Breakthrough Energy, which aims to drive innovation in sustainable energy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Gates was seen relaxing on Lizard Island on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef before flying his Gulfstream jet, one of two he owns, to Sydney for a meeting with Anthony Albanese.