Governments, investors partner to break through clean technology barriers.

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• published: 02 Dec 2015
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Billionaire Bill Gates and other rich enterpreneurs are set to join politicians to look for innovative solutions to shift the world away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. EDITORS NOTE: RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT SHOWS: LE BOURGET, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 30, 2015) (AGENCY POOL - ACCESS ALL) U.S. billionaire Bill Gates joined the presidents of the United States and France, as well as the Indian Prime Minister to launch the Mission Innovation initiative on Monday (November 30) that aims to improve technological advancement in clean energy production. U.S. President Barack Obama said it was vital that corporations and innovators played their part in helping to tackle climate change. "So we have to make that the same process of development is taking place but using a whole new set of technologies and arrangements. So we don't have a conflict between development and solving this climate crisis. The leap forward is going to take much more than pledges for development assistance from governments, it is going to take private sector efforts and a commitment to innovation and the capital to keeping driving down the costs of clean energy all around the world. That's why today we're announcing Mission Innovation. I believe that this is going to be one of the most significant public private partnerships ever forged to accelerate energy innovation on a global scale," Obama said. "Mission Innovation will help deliver affordable clean energy and new jobs and opportunities to people around the world for decades to come. This is how we are going to solve this challenge, together. That's at the heart of what we are trying to accomplish here in Paris," he added. Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, will launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group of 28 private investors who hail from Silicon Valley to South Africa, that will invest billions of dollars in "patient, flexible risk capital" to bring riskier new technologies to market. "Two initiatives we are launching here, the increased governmental research and private investment are to address climate change and to reduce the cost of energy, to reduce poverty. We need to move to sources of energy that are even cheaper than the hydrocarbon energy we use today. We need it to be not only clean, but also reliable," he said. Other members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition include Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Ratan Tata, retired chairman of India's Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, and South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe of African Rainbow Minerals. The United States, France, India and 17 other countries will announce they will double the $10 billion they collectively spend on clean energy research and development in the next five years, shining a spotlight on the role of technology in any climate agreement reached in Paris. French President Francois Hollande said participants of the initiative need to make strong commitments to follow through. "Countries participating in this initiative have to make to make a commitment. The commitment is to double their R & D (Research and development) investment in clean energies by 2020. France is making this commitment," he said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said international co-operation was key. "We must come together in a partnership to bring clean energy within the reach of all. Innovation is vital for committing climate challenge and ensure climate justice," he said. Since 2010, Gates has been an advocate for doubling or trebling the amount of clean energy R&D; to meet both the challenges of providing energy access to over 1 billion people, and to reduce carbon emissions over the long term.