Bill Gates knows that what he says has a habit of creating headlines.

This week, as the United Nations made its conventional pre-COP announcement about global efforts to address climate change and most countries still not having submitted clear climate plans, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist chose his 70th birthday to make a statement on his own web site that has been roundly seen as softening his stance on tackling greenhouse gas emissions.

His central theme was that climate change would not bring about the fall of mankind, and a more proportionate amount of philanthropic funding should be diverted to efforts to counter disease and reduce human suffering through hunger. “Climate change, disease and poverty are all major problems,” he wrote. “We should deal with them in proportion to the suffering they cause.”

The media reaction has been intense, with many picking up on both the money he has contributed through his foundation across the past 25 years and the investments he has made in major projects to tackle climate change.

CNN called it “a stunning and significant pushback to the “doomsday” climate activist community”, noting that Gates “denied his new position represents a reversal from his past stances.”

The Times republished extracts from the Gates essay and concluded that it represented a significant softening of stance and a strategic reset away from emissions goals, “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on earth for the foreseeable future. Emissions projections have gone down, and with the right policies and investments, innovation will allow us to drive emissions down much further,” it said.

The Guardian noted that his views came “a day after the UN said humanity had missed its target of limiting global heating to 1.5C, with the UN secretary general warning of “devastating consequences” for the world.”

Bloomberg outlined what kind of climate adaptation programmes Gates thinks should be a higher priority, but also noted that while there is a long way to go, this year’s COP30 summit should coincide with news that global emissions are on track to fall 10 per cent from 2019 levels by 2035, a major milestone. 

It quoted the billionaire’s view that now is the “time to put human welfare at the centre of our climate strategies, which includes reducing the green premium to zero and improving agriculture and health in poor countries.”

Gates surely knew what the reaction to his words would be, just in advance of COP30. It has certainly stirred the pot, and will surely be a reference point in the climate conversation for some time to come.