Singapore a ‘very attractive place’ to develop new climate technology: Bill Gates
SINGAPORE: Climate change is an issue that requires “IQ from all over the planet”, rather than being restricted to just “a few rich countries in the West”, said Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates in an exclusive interview with CNA last week.
“I'm a huge believer that we need innovation to solve our clean energy problem, and you've got a lot of great scientific capability in Asia, broadly and particularly in Southeast Asia,” said Mr Gates, who is also founder of climate investment firm Breakthrough Energy.
“Singapore has very strong universities. It's a very attractive place, if you're coming from multiple parts of Asia, to build the team.
“Singapore, because of its success, can take a long-term view and play a strong role in incubating some of these technologies,” he added.
Mr Gates was speaking to CNA on Wednesday (Jun 26) in London at the Breakthrough Energy Summit, an annual climate conference held by his firm.
PARTNERSHIP WITH TEMASEK, ENTERPRISE SINGAPORE
In April, the company announced a partnership with government agency Enterprise Singapore and state investment firm Temasek by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to identify and grow budding climate technology in Southeast Asia.
The MOU, which was announced at Ecosperity Week 2024, comes with a joint funding commitment over the next three years.
To that end, the Breakthrough Energy Fellows programme will be establishing a hub in Singapore – its first regional one outside of the United States.
Through the programme, Singapore will co-fund and nurture deep-tech climate start-ups that deal with renewable energy and carbon footprint. This is targeted at helping the region meet its net-zero target by 2050.
Start-ups in the programme will have an initial seed funding of US$500,000. They can also access a global network of industry partners, mentors, experts, and investors.
“Breakthrough Energy looks at a whole gamut of game changing technologies to address global warming”,” said Enterprise Singapore chairman Lee Chuan Teck.
“So you’ll be looking at various technologies from new materials that do not emit carbon, to new energy sources like hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, to new ways of capturing carbon from the atmosphere.”
Calling the collaboration a “win-win proposition”, Mr Lee added that Enterprise Singapore hopes to bring on more partners and address other global challenges like food security, waste treatment, and healthcare.
Breakthrough Energy Fellows vice-president Ashley Grosh noted the “incredible technical talent” at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.
“We know there's a lot of innovation and research happening there, and so we're hoping to bring the entrepreneurial spirit to all those researchers in the region,” she said.
Singapore’s location also allows Breakthrough Energy to engage markets and corporate partners, added Ms Grosh.
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WELL-PLACED AS AN INCUBATOR
In his interview with CNA, Mr Gates addressed questions on Southeast Asia’s potential to be a clean energy innovator and how Singapore can help to push his firm’s agenda to a regional level.
"Climate problem is a global problem, and it's got a certain urgency to it, and so you want to engage the IQ from all over the planet. You don't want to restrict it just to a few rich countries in the West,” he pointed out.
“I think we'll be surprised at the ideas that come along. Obviously, Asia is industrialised, and so things like cement and steel – the pace and competitiveness of those industries is actually stronger in Asia than it is anywhere else on the planet.”
Mr Gates also noted that early-stage research and development can often be done at “very low cost”, or well under US$1 million.
“You can take the idea and see at the lab level it doesn't work,” he said.
“Some things won't work, and that's fine, but if you're working at that lab level, then you know you have investors like Breakthrough (or) Temasek, who can say: ‘Write your business plan now that you have some proof. We will help to scale it up’.
“And so some percentage of these companies will emerge and make a big contribution to the climate problem,” he added.
As for the partnership with Temasek and Enterprise Singapore, Mr Gates said his firm looks at scientific ideas and picks those with a good chance of success, while the Singapore government can drive awareness and “pull the universities in at the right stage”.
“We will also want the risk investors to participate as well, and so, I think we really have all the skills that you'd want to have to broaden our Fellows programme into Asia,” he added.
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