Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, shares what he has learnt in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address climate problems. He explains how the world can work to build the tools it needs to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions - investing in research, inventing new technologies and deploying them quickly at a large scale. Gates is optimistic that the world can prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

This is a visionary and inspiring book by one of the world's most celebrated public figures.

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Listening Length

7 hours and 11 minutes
Author

Bill Gates
Narrator

Wil Wheaton, see all
Audible release date

16 February 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B082PZDPKL
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	7 hours and 11 minutes
Author	Bill Gates
Narrator	Bill Gates, Wil Wheaton
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	16 February 2021
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B082PZDPKL
Best Sellers Rank	524 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Environmental Pollution Engineering 1 in Weather Science 1 in Environmental Science (Books)

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2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Peter W. Donovan

What can be done to save the planet.

Reviewed in Australia on 21 March 2021

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The author, Bill Gates, made a major contribution to the new technology of our times. He has since turned to using some of his very significant wealth in various philanthropic endeavours. He has put this book together over the last decade, consulting with various experts and travelling to see emerging problems for himself. It is detailed, particularly on the pivotal problem of producing, storing and distributing electricity without adding to the excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the planet. Ultimately this is a collective problem requiring a collective solution. I would have given more emphasis to the need to curtail growth in the human population but
am very glad to own a copy. It is strongly recommended.

3 people found this helpful

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Ian B.

Climate Sense

Reviewed in Australia on 25 March 2021

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A book packed with data, which is more than you can say for most books on CC which are instead full of climate change cliche.
The books says that CC will be bad and that we can stop it if we get to zero net carbon by 2050. This is a prediction with which I intuitively do not agree. I understand the science but the science is thin. Normally in the engineering world I inhabit I can calculate a useful result given initial conditions. That is applied science. Climate Change on the other hand relies on data models, data analytics and risk management. If Steve Jobs or Elon Musk let risk advisors run their companies they would not produce anything. So in my view CC is just the politics of risk abatement. The politics of fear.
BUT Bill Gates book is very useful because it actually explains the real effort, real cost and points to the improbability that carbon will be controlled. For the discerning reader it will show that coal for instance is only 20% of the problem. It should be a real eye opener for the climate activist. Required reading for youth who want to jump on the CC band waggon.

2 people found this helpful

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Clyve Westerlund

For the Globe to Read and Contemplate on a serious level.

Reviewed in Australia on 6 June 2021

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Bill Gates still is in my perspective an extraordinary individual with an extraordinary team focusing on solving extraordinary if not impossible problems. It doesn’t matter what he’s invested in or if you’re angry at the marketing of his ideas or just plain dislike the guy and his organisations. The fact of the matter is, he doesn’t need to do all of this but he has made a profound commitment to quite simply; make the world a better place. But the point is, he doesn’t matter in this. Because as you’ll read, what is written is the important factor In all of this, and the issue is bigger than any of us as it’s a worldwide planetary issue that demands attention of the highest level.

Now, that’s my comments to support for what Bill & his Team are doing.

For the contents of the book, it is without a mandatory read. Especially for those whom know about climate change but do not how exactly how complex and complicated the problem is at solving. I am glad to verify the knowledge I already had with this text, and also learn more nuanced and critical details about it.

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JR Lee Chin

One of this century's most important books

Reviewed in Australia on 20 March 2021

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Hard-nosed, business-based solutions to arguably one of the the greatest threats facing mankind, Bill Gates attempts to explain in simple terms the specific climate related problems and their possible resolution. How can we keep our technologically advanced way of life but curb greenhouse gas emissions which are changing the planet so as to make it more and more difficult for people to thrive?

2 people found this helpful

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Andreas

Great overview of our current status and what actions are required

Reviewed in Australia on 16 March 2021

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This book draws a very clear picture of where we are at in all areas of energy consumption, what hurdles we have to overcome and what can be done in each area and technology sector to tackle this issue successfully. It further discusses what specifically needs to be done and how anyone can de involved in creating change, whether on a professional or personal level. The book is a great foundation and basis of further discussion and action. It's also easy reading. Highly recommended if you are even slightly interested or passionate about climate change.

One person found this helpful

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Robert

It is well written and worthy of reading.

Reviewed in Australia on 7 March 2021

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Well written in 'simple English" and well researched with facts. As a climate change project developer and academic, I agree with all the issues that Bill Gates discusses and I agree with his conclusions, recommendations (for Governments) and long term outlook.

2 people found this helpful

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Aaron Overington

Thought provoking read

Reviewed in Australia on 15 March 2021

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Great read, based on science and hard facts to get across the climate change issues we as a planet are facing. Clearly outlines the factors that are contributing to global warming, but also offers up practical solutions that everyone, across the globe, can do to fix it.
Highly recommend reading and sharing.

One person found this helpful

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PrinceBuster5 Brian S

Essentially correct, so buy it & read it.

Reviewed in Australia on 5 July 2021

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Look, if we followed Bill's plan, it wouldn't be optimal but it would be a huge step forward. So if it can help gain consensus then I give it 5 stars. Plus any profit goes to the Foundation, a very well-run, practical, international aid group. So buy it & read it.

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Top reviews from other countries

J. A May

Bill Gates has not studied climate science

Reviewed in the United States on 17 February 2021

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Bill Gates is obviously a bright person, he built Microsoft and was a great innovator. But this book is disappointing. Gates has clearly not studied climate science, he just assumes the IPCC reports and models are correct. Then he accepts their health and economic projections, built with climate model output. He does no due diligence. If he ran his business like this, he would not have succeeded.

So after blindly accepting, the consensus position on climate science he then proceeds to tell us what we must do to combat his hypothesized scourge of climate change. Later he implores the governments of the world to unite in forcing us to do what he wants.

In my opinion, this is a very shallow look at a complex topic. It is more of a propaganda pamphlet than a serious book. Bill Gates should do his homework for his next book. Not recommended.

1,072 people found this helpful

Adam Bowie

Practical steps the planet can take

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 February 2021

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A year or so ago I read The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells, which laid out in often horrific details, the kinds of things that would happen to the planet if we didn’t change our ways.

Bill Gates goes for the much more practical, “So what can we do about it now?” approach. This book is basically his plan to cut our carbon emissions from 51 billion tonnes to zero by 2050. That’s it in a nutshell. If we don’t then, like a bath, with even just a slow dripping tap, we’ll end up overflowing and facing some of the consequences that Wallace-Wells laid out in his earlier work.

To do this, in this enormously readable book, Gates takes us through where the emissions come from, and examines ways to work through each of those sectors, which he breaks down into making things, plugging in, growing things, getting around and keeping warm and cool.

He tackles each in turn, although he notes that we spend a lot of time thinking about “getting around” – aka transport – which accounts for 16% of net emissions, but not so much on making steel and concrete. The food industry also gets a good look-in.

Gates is putting his money where his mouth is. Throughout the book he talks about the various companies he’s invested in. This could sound a bit, “Aren’t I clever?” but it doesn’t. He’s just being practical. It comes from the work he and his wife Melinda have carried out through their Gates Foundation in doing very practical things like fighting malaria. So he’s constantly referring to people he’s met, and businesses he’s keenly following.
And throughout, he is very pragmatic. Only a few of us are willing – or even able – to pay a “Green Premium” for some of life’s essentials. He readily acknowledges that the lower the income you are in, the bigger a proportion of your overall costs something like transport will be. So paying even a small premium is simply not affordable. He’s also very aware that the big growth in greenhouse gases is likely to come from developing parts of the world where billions are coming to expect the same kinds of middle-class lifestyles that Americans and Europeans have experienced.

So, what are the solutions? Well, this isn’t really a list of things that you or I can do directly – assuming neither of us is a world leader. There are some of those things, but this is more about policy as well as corporate and governmental support and investment. When we buy the cheapest concrete or steel, there is no carbon-cost attached to it. There’s no incentive to use the greener materials.

And where there are financial incentives, they don’t necessarily help. The energy industry is rife with them, but they protect the enormously cheap fossil fuel industry. On the other hand, laws might make it ridiculously hard to build things like windfarms (a particular problem, seemingly, in the US).

There are things which make you raise your eyebrows a bit. Gates doesn’t believe that just planting lots of trees will fix things. He’s got nothing against trees but I think sees them as a too simplistic solution that will require ongoing care to payback their investment over centuries. He is a big proponent of nuclear fuel, pointing out that while wind and solar energy are fantastic, they don’t provide consistent power. And even though at heart, Gates is a technologist through and through, he doesn’t see battery technology meaningfully moving on, which causes difficulties if you need to store vast amounts of power to even out supply on windless or cloudy days.

Some will look at Gates, flying around in his private jet and wonder if he really practices what he preaches? He acknowledges his own shortcomings, but I think this book shows that he is indeed putting his money where his mouth is.

Getting to net zero will not be easy, as he repeats throughout, but it’s achievable and he’s laid out a plan to get us there.

71 people found this helpful

Ruben

Excellent - Must Read Book - 5 *

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2021

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Excellent book. Bill Gates, really outlines the ins and outs of something most of the society ignores. Such optimism on his innovative perception and will on solving this global issue. I highly recommend.

66 people found this helpful

S Hussain

Exceptional book written by an exceptional individual.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2021

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Thought provoking. Insightful.

51 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Allows normal people to understand the necessary battle on climate change.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 February 2021

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The book is written in a way that's easy to read, not too long, and deeply impactful throughout. In only a few hours I was able to dramatically further my understanding of the larger picture on climate change. This included the breakup of challenges that we face to avoid a climate disaster (which I personally found somewhat surprising), along with the current and future measures needed to tackle it (some of which I already knew more about than others).

32 people found this helpful

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