Bill Gates’ climate-investment firm will put more money into adapting to climate change
KEY POINTS Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) has made more than 100 investments in startups primarily focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s time to start accepting reality and that we’re not going to be able to do this fast enough, the ship is too big, it’s too hard to steer,” Eric Toone, one half of BEV’s investing committee, said at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle last week. “It takes a while for the planet to cool down,” Carmichael Roberts, the second half of BEV’s investing committee, told CNBC. “That’s the harsh reality and the motivation — that we are running out of time.” Eric Toone, one half of the investing committee at Breakthrough Energy, speaks to conference attendees at the breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle on Wednesday October 19, 2022. Photo by Cat Clifford, CNBC SEATTLE — Breakthrough Energy Ventures , the climate-technology investment firm started by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates , will begin to devote more to companies that help pe