Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, and fellow philanthropists have revealed details of a fund for clean energy technology to be used in countries that have committed public money to double research and development.
Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp., will be joined by at least 27 other private investors in the so-called “Breakthrough Energy Coalition,” including Africa’s richest man, Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote; Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. chairman and founder Jack Ma; and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman.
In making investments, the coalition will “take the risks that allow the early stage energy companies” to bring their ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, according to an e-mailed statement from the White House on Sunday.
The investors will collaborate with 19 countries, from the U.S. to India, Saudi Arabia, China and Chile, which together make up 80 percent of global clean-energy research and development. In the public component of the plan, known as “Mission Innovation,” each nation has vowed to double their budget for the sector over the next five years.
The twin initiatives will be formally announced on Monday, the opening day of United Nations talks on climate change in Paris scheduled to run through Dec. 11.
