- Bill Gates on Friday gave a speech about climate change to billionaires and millionaires gathered in Sun Valley, Idaho
- So many of the attendees flew in on private jets, to hear the climate change talk, that the air space from as far afield as Michigan and Canada had to be temporarily closed
- The annual event, now in its 37th year, has drawn its usual gathering of luminaries from tech, industry, media and sport
- Among those attending this year are the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, CIA director Bill Burns, Disney chairman Bob Iger and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
- The group have had sessions on public health, criminal justice reform and the global economy
- The meeting concludes on Saturday with a discussion with 90-year-old Warren Buffett
Bill Gates on Friday told his fellow billionaires that more needed to be done to combat climate change during an address at the annual Sun Valley conference in Idaho.
With many of his fellow captains of industry, entertainment and technology having flown in by private jet, Gates told them the problem was real.
The busy private jet traffic on Tuesday saw the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration bring in restrictions on air traffic control, temporarily banning other planes from the country’s West Coast to as far as Michigan and Canada from departing.
Gates has in the past defended his use of private jets, insisting he took steps to mitigate their damage.
While promoting his book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster in February, Gates said: ‘I am offsetting my carbon emissions by buying clean aviation fuel and funding carbon capture and funding low cost housing projects to use electricity instead of natural gas and so I have been able to eliminate it and it was amazing to me how expensive that was, that cost to be green… we’ve got to drive that down.’
Gates, 65, attended the 37th annual gathering without his estranged wife Melinda, following their May divorce announcement.
On Thursday he was seen strolling the grounds of the Idaho resort with Evan Greenberg, president and CEO of insurance giant Chubb.
See the images here.
