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What The World's Richest People Are Doing To Fight Climate Change

The world’s wealthiest people have never been richer, and their carbon footprint has expanded as a consequence. Some of the very richest are actively engaged in fighting climate change, while others, not so much. 

A recent UN report found that  the richest 1% of the world population account for 15% of emissions. “The wealthy bear the greatest responsibility in this area,” the report found, referring to changes in consumer behavior prioritizing low-carbon consumption. “This elite will need to reduce their footprint by a factor of 30 to stay in line with the Paris Agreement targets,” it added.

So what are the richest of the rich, the top 10 wealthiest individuals in the world, doing through either their personal or corporate influence to help the world avoid the worst consequences of climate change? 

It’s a mixed picture. While Jeff Bezos has made big pledges—$10 billion to the climate and billions of dollars to be spent by Amazon to reduce its carbon footprint —he’s only just begun to make headway on those. Bill Gates is heavily engaged in the topic, having written a book called How To Avoid A Climate Disaster which was published in February. Tesla CEO Elon Musk arguably spurred many other automakers to start making electric cars and is well known for his statements on climate change. Warren Buffett remains opposed to climate risk disclosure at Berkshire Hathaway. 

Their businesses are more likely to make public pledges to sustainability than they have personally expressed. Several have signed on to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a coalition of international organizations such as the United Nations Global Compass that supports and independently assesses business commitments to set net-zero carbon targets. Meeting such targets would prevent a global temperature increase of more than 1.5 Celsius, experts predict. The SBTi has set two deadlines: first, halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, followed by hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Companies have two years to submit their targets once they commit to the SBTi.

These billionaires’ other investments, philanthropic initiatives and personal opinions complete the picture of what their commitments to sustainability and a carbon neutral future looks like. Here, a look at the world’s 10 richest people from this perspective. (Net worths are as of April 21, 2021)

#1 Jeff Bezos

Net Worth: $194.4 billion

Source Of Wealth: Amazon

SBTi commitment? Yes, but no targets submitted yet. Amazon launched its own initiative, The Climate Pledge, with the Global Optimism group.

The richest person on the planet has made no shortage of pledges to tackling climate change in recent years, be it Amazon’s Climate Pledge, cofounded with the Global Optimism group, or his own Bezos Earth Fund. The Climate Pledge, which has been signed by 104 other corporations so far, aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Amazon also set up a $2 billion Climate Fund to invest in new technologies needed to build a zero-carbon economy. The company claims to be the world’s largest buyer of renewable energy, and it set up internal targets like deploying 100,000 electric vehicles for its deliveries by 2030 and supporting carbon reducing technologies in cloud computing, but its sustainability targets have not been submitted to other umbrella organizations like the SBTi, to which it has committed in May 2020.

Amazon’s latest sustainability report, dated June 2020, offers a glimpse of the size of the carbon emission challenge the e-commerce behemoth is facing: as the company kept growing in 2019 (revenue grew 22%), so did its carbon footprint (by 15%). Amazon chooses a different metric to define its footprint, called “carbon intensity,” which measures the carbon dioxide equivalent associated with each dollar of Gross Merchandise Sales. Amazon says its carbon intensity metric in 2019 was down 5% compared to 2018. “Emissions intensity can be useful to try and show progress on climate action even where a business is expanding,” Dave Reay, professor of carbon management and education at the University of Edinburgh tells Forbes, adding: “But it can also be used to hide inaction and ultimately all that counts is what our atmosphere sees: less carbon or more carbon globally.”

On a personal level, Bezos joined some 20 high-profile investors led by Bill Gates in launching Breakthrough Energy Ventures in 2016, which was set up with the goal of investing at least $1 billion in  companies developing new zero-emissions technologies. Bezos announced the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund last year, revealing in November that he had given 16 groups working on climate change a total $790 million in donations—about 0.4% of his current $194.4 billion net worth. The five groups that received the largest chunks of donations ($100 million each) are well established nonprofits working in the sustainability and environment sectors: the World Wildlife Fund, the World Resource Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund.

#2 Bernard Arnault

Net Worth : $179.9 billion

Source Of Wealth: LVMH

SBTi commitment? Yes, February 2020, no targets set.

Arnault is the king of luxury, having built an empire of 75 brands at LVMH, from Louis Vuitton to Givenchy, encompassing jewelry, fashion, drinks, cosmetics, and even a yacht manufacturer—all sectors facing complex sustainability challenges. 

LVMH often speaks with a united voice on the sustainability front through its LVMH Initiatives For the Environment (LIFE) program, which was renamed “LIFE 360” in December when it  unveiled targets such as achieving 100% renewable energy usage and eliminating fossil-based virgin plastic in packaging by 2026. LVMH pledged in 2017 to achieve a 25% reduction of its emissions by 2020, a target it says it not only achieved but surpassed, reporting a 37% reduction.

LVMH declined to join the Fashion Pact, led by its rival Kering, which commits its signatories to implementing the principles of the U.N. Fashion Charter, achieving 25% low-impact materials sourcing by 2025, achieving 50% renewable energy by 2025, and 100% by 2030 in their own operations. Arnault said these targets didn’t make sense for LVMH’s business, adding “we prefer action to pacts.”

Arnault also holds investments in French fashion brand Hermés and grocery chain Carrefour— both signatories to Kering’s Fashion Pact. Hermés also committed to the SBTi in December, but has yet to specify its targets. Carrefour committed and set targets with the SBTi.

Arnault’s personal contributions and commitment to sustainability are not known. A glimpse of Europe’s richest man’s attitude to sustainability was revealed in 2019, when Arnault criticized teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, whom he deemed to be “surrendering completely to catastrophism,” before adding: “I prefer positive solutions that allow us to get towards a more optimistic position.”

#3 Elon Musk

Net Worth : $175.5 billion

Source Of Wealth: Tesla, SpaceX

SBTi commitment? None

Elon Musk first achieved billionaire status in 2012, thanks to his stakes in electric carmaker Tesla and solar firm SolarCity—two companies that offer an alternative to fossil fuels. Musk has also used his influence to advocate for a carbon tax (which the U.S. does not have) and to denounce climate denialism, departing a White House advisory role after President Trump decided to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. 

Tesla’s first impact report in 2019 notes its 2017 direct and indirect global carbon emissions, focusing on how Tesla achieves energy savings and avoids waste rather than setting targets. Some commentators like Bloomberg Opinion contributor David Fickling have recently criticized the company for failing to adequately disclose its emissions and its energy consumption, and failing to acknowledge its expanding carbon footprint. 

Carbon removal is nonetheless on Musk’s mind. In February, he pledged $100 million to the nonprofit organization XPrize towards a four-year competition—opening for entries on April 22—dedicated to finding solutions to “collectively achieve the 10 gigaton per year carbon removal target by 2050.” 

The donation comes from Musk and his foundation, whose operations are secretive—its website is nothing more than a bare HTML page listing five areas of interest, “renewable energy research and advocacy” being one of them. (Last year Forbes analyzed Musk’s philanthropic giving based on tax filings made by his foundation.)

Some of Musk’s philanthropy was well publicized. In 2018 Musk defended a $38,900 contribution to Republican politicians by stating it was “0.5%” of what he donated to the Sierra Club environmental group.

#4 Bill Gates

Net Worth : $130.4 billion

Source Of Wealth: Microsoft, investments

SBTi commitment? Yes, Microsoft set targets in September 2019 to source 100% renewable electricity through 2030 and cut greenhouse gas emissions intensity per unit of revenue 30% by 2030 from 2017 levels. Microsoft is also a signatory to Amazon’s Climate Pledge.

Gates may have lost his spot as the world’s wealthiest person in recent years, but he’s one of the world’s most outspoken billionaires when it comes to climate change investment and philanthropy—he’s even written a bestselling book on this topic, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster

The company that made Gates a billionaire, Microsoft, has matched its cofounder’s sustainability efforts, setting one of the tech world’s most ambitious climate targets—becoming carbon negative by 2030, which means removing more carbon from the atmosphere than the business creates. If that wasn’t enough, by 2050 Microsoft aims to have cleared its historic carbon footprint by “removing all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.” (Gates stepped down from the board of Microsoft in March 2020.) 

While world leaders negotiated the Paris Agreement, in 2015 Gates committed $2 billion of his wealth towards efforts to tackle climate change. That year, he also rallied other business leaders like Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. Its investment arm into zero-carbon technologies, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, launched the following year with a $1 billion budget. It’s invested so far in 40 companies and raised a further $1 billion this January. Gates told Forbes earlier this year he’s committing another $2 billion towards zero-carbon technologies over the next five years.

#5 Mark Zuckerberg

Net Worth : $110.3 billion

Source Of Wealth: Facebook

SBTi commitment? Yes, Facebook committed in September 2020 but has not set targets.

Right on cue for Earth Day, Zuckerberg’s Facebook announced it reached net zero for its own emissions and the energy it purchases and was working towards a net zero target for emissions indirectly created by Facebook’s activities—like business trips—by 2030. Facebook also said it recognizes the Science Based Targets initiatives, to which it has committed in September, though it has yet to submit targets.

A large focus of Facebook’s sustainability efforts is on renewable energy. The company boasted about being the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in 2019, a title to which it was beaten later, first by Google and then Amazon, the current record holder—but it says it plans to invest in “carbon removal projects and nature-based solutions.”

 Facebook’s recent efforts to clamp down on misinformation shared on the platform—a u-turn from Zuckerberg, who had previously refused the role of factchecker—will now include the issue of climate change through a new section dedicated to debunking climate change myths. 

On a personal level, Zuckerberg said in 2015 he backed Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Coalition, but it’s unclear how much he’s contributed to it. That same year, he and his wife Priscilla Chan set up The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a limited liability company that’s for charitable and advocacy purposes, to which they’ve pledged 99% of their Facebook shares. 

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has so far committed just over $2 billion to various projects. None of the foundation’s focus areas deal specifically with climate change, but sustainability is part of some of their grant recipients’ priorities. California’s TransForm initiative, which focuses on fostering sustainable communities that aren’t reliant on motorized vehicles for transportation, received $725,000 from CZI between 2018 and 2021.

#6 Warren Buffett

Net Worth : $104.6 billion

Source Of Wealth: Berkshire Hathaway

SBTi commitment? No

For someone known as “the Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett’s 2015 statement in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on the possibility that climate catastrophes could boost profits for insurers has not aged well, with reinsurers facing a $100 billion hit in 2020 alone for a series of catastrophic wildfires, hurricanes, and floods.

In the letter, Buffett highlighted the company’s commitment to renewable energy in support of the Paris Agreement. But when it came to a proposal to create a report on the risk climate change posed to the business, Buffett adamantly opposed it. “When you are thinking only as a shareholder of a major insurer, climate change should not be on your list of worries,” Buffett wrote. University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business professor Thomas P Lyon wrote in The Guardian, about what he said were flaws in Buffett’s reasoning. Shareholders nonetheless voted down the proposal.

In the six years since, Buffett’s attitude to climate change risk and reporting hasn’t changed—he opposes a new shareholders’ proposal to report on climate change. Berkshire’s annual proxy filing states that the board of directors “unanimously favors a vote against the proposal,” with Buffett’s 2015 letter cited as one of the reasons for the opposition.

#7 Larry Ellison

Net Worth : $101.3 billion

Source Of Wealth: Oracle

SBTi commitment? No

Ellison’s software company has a clear position on sustainability: “Oracle recognizes that sustainable business is good business,” its sustainability webpage proudly states, along with displaying the company’s sustainability goals—which have not been submitted to SBTi—and their progress so far. 

Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014, remaining chairman and chief technology officer. Some of his hobbies, like sailing, offer insight into his sustainability ethos. Ellison launched the SailGP catamarans race in 2018. Currently estimated to be worth $200 million, it adopted the “powered by nature” slogan to underscore its commitment to being 100% powered by renewable energy sources by 2025. But Ellison’s most ambitious project is turning the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he bought in 2012 for $300 million, into a clean energy and wellness utopia. In Lanai he founded wellness company Sensei, which has so far launched a $3,000-a-night spa called Sensei Retreat and solar-powered hydroponic greenhouses called Sensei Farms. The farms are off-grid, fully powered by solar energy, something Ellison aspires to apply to the island as a whole.

Ellison shut down his philanthropic foundation last year, having focused most of his donations on education and healthcare—his latest focus, the Covid-19 pandemic. “Philanthropy is the definition of not sustainable,” he told Forbes last April. “Business is the definition of sustainable.” 

#8, #9 Larry Page and Sergey Brin 

Net Worth : $98.9 billion and $95.9 billion

Source Of Wealth: Google

SBTi commitment? No

Founded with the motto of “don’t be evil,” Google was one of the first major companies to commit to carbon neutrality, announcing in 2009 that 2007 emissions and part of 2008 emissions had been neutralized through purchasing “high-quality carbon offsets.” Since then Google created a new parent company, Alphabet. Since 2017, Alphabet says it’s been sourcing its energy from renewable sources. The latest target the company has set is operating its data centers and campuses on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030. 

The Google cofounders have been outspoken about their commitments to sustainability even when it caused controversy, like in 2014 when they left the free market lobbying group American Legislative Exchange Council over its links to climate change denial. Page and Brin however received criticism in 2019 over their three-day secretive retreat in Italy—which reportedly cost them $29 million—that many of their A-list guests, invited to discuss climate change, reached by private jets.

Outside of Alphabet, the cofounders have similar but separate business interests in innovative technologies. Page has invested in the recently dismantled asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources and flying cars companies Kitty Hawk and Opener. Brin has reportedly been busy for the past four years investing millions of dollars into the secretive LTA Research startup, whose mission is to build a hydrogen and helium-powered airship to deploy in disaster zones. 

#10 Françoise Bettencourt Meyers

Net Worth : $81.6 billion

Source Of Wealth: L’Oréal

SBTi commitment? Yes, in April 2018 l’Oréal committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2030, from 2016 levels, specifically reducing by 100% absolute emissions at its operated sites by 2025.

The world’s richest woman is also among the most publicity-shy—perhaps that’s to be expected after she spent years in embroiled in a very public scandal, dubbed the Bettencourt Affair, spurred by her lawsuit against a photographer that received nearly $1 billion in gifts from her mother over the years.

The company of which she owns a 33% stake, cosmetics colossus L’Oréal, has made public commitments to cutting emissions. In 2018, it committed to reducing its absolute greenhouse gas emissions 25% from its 2016 levels, by 2030. It set the same deadline to derive 95% of its ingredients from “renewable plant sources, abundant minerals, or circular processes” instead of petroleum-based ones as well as ensuring that 100% of the formulas are “respectful of the aquatic environment.” Bettencourt Meyers presumably greenlighted this effort as she is a board member of L’Oréal’s strategy and sustainable development committee. 

Betterncourt Meyers also serves as president of her family’s foundation, which does not have a focus on sustainability or climate change, focusing instead on “the arts, life sciences and an inclusive society.” Her family’s investment art, Tethys, also shares a focus on healthcare and life sciences—no investment in sustainability or climate change projects have been disclosed so far.

Update, April 22, 2021: This story has been updated to reflect Amazon’s commitment to the SBTi.