When one business leader gets involved in a social cause, people pay attention, so imagine the power to move and influence the masses when three of the largest names in technology and online retailing form a partnership to pursue one of the biggest global issues we face – climate change.
That’s just what Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Bill Gates of Microsoft, along with Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Richard Branson of Virgin, Jack Ma of Alibaba and many more, have done. It’s a truly extraordinary partnership not seen before all for a critical social cause that demands our attention.
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition is a massive fund that will focus on investing in ideas that provide the solutions we need to use clean energy sources for our energy consumption. The fund is looking at early stage companies that are producing near zero carbon emissions and that can offer ways to make clean energy accessible to everyone.
What’s more important than just the fact that these leaders are joining forces and have considerable resources to create the fund is that they are developing a new model that can serve as a benchmark for more socially driven projects in the future. The new model addresses some of the primary challenges that are often faced with startups, including how to commercialize a product of this nature.
These brilliant minds believe they have found a way to respond to this challenge by creating a system where there is a willingness to make a long-term commitment to seeing these clean energy solutions reach their full potential rather than seeking out only those startups that will quickly deliver a return on their investment.
Gates, Zuckerberg, and the others involved want investors to see that patience and commitment are especially important with certain businesses like those involved in clean energy due to the complex nature of the product they are developing. However, in this case, patience is truly all we have if we want to get to the point where we shift our reliance on energy sources and truly make a dent in fighting climate change.
Gates is also going a step further to illustrate his commitment to critical social change through his program called Mission Innovation, bringing together 20 countries to encourage greater public investment in energy research to further the efforts of those companies that have joined the new fund. This secondary initiative on the part of Gates shows the push that global business leaders can make to insist that human rights extend to the right to have clean, reliable, and affordable energy even among the poorest people in the world.
His initiative is important as these developing nations are often still using some of the dirtiest sources for energy because it is all that they can afford. Gates wants to change all that and has taken up a cause that many governments around the world have seemingly failed to address.
With these business leaders as our model, it’s time that more of us in the technology and fund community join these initiatives. We can also look for ways to create similar programs and initiatives that focus on the social ills now harming our planet and our population. Using the power, influence, and resources at our fingertips, we can work together to drive the necessary change that will improve the quality of life for all and provide a way for everyone to access the energy, food, and other resources they deserve.