Two Badass Generals Join the War on Carbon

The fight to preserve our environment just got two big-time leaders, both who are using their business reputations and personal fortunes to attempt to help innovate our way to zero carbon. But even with their track record of success and significant financial clout, can Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and Virgin founder Richard Branson really make a difference?

Last year, disappointment caused by the Copenhagen climate summit was palpable. While optimists had hoped that the international summit would produce binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions, the lack of meaningful progress indicated to many the impotence and failure of creativity among the global political class.

For some, the response was disengagement. Last week, for example, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change resigned in frustration. For others, however, the lack of political leadership reinforced a commitment to taking a more nimble approach and incentive-shifting possibilities within the private sector to really shift the energy landscape.

And now, two of the world's best-known entrepreneurs have put some serious skin in the climate change game.

At TED a couple weeks ago, Bill Gates made an incredibly important speech in which he called for carbon emissions to be reduced to zero by the year 2050. The speech was significant for a couple reasons. First, it was one of the first times Gates has spoken publicly about this particular issue. Indeed, he said that his interest had come largely because of an assessment that if climate change wasn't addressed, there wouldn't be any global health or education issues left for his foundation to solve. Second, it was powerful to see Gates advocate a wholesale elimination of emissions all the way to zero. That's not a number you can fudge.

But Gates isn't the only billionaire to step up on the issue, either. Last week, Richard Branson launched the Carbon War Room, a full-scale, multi-tiered approach to enable entrepreneurs of all stripes to clean our air. The Carbon War Room has identified "25 battles across 7 theatres" that each account for more than 2% of annual global carbon emissions. They are supporting for-profit entrepreneurs, corporate intrapraneurs and nonprofit and social entrepreneurs with basically any means necessary: media campaigns, supply chain interventions, high-level covenings and more. While some might not love the war analogies, I think they pretty accurately convey a needed sense of urgency.

It's incredibly important that industry titans are actually putting serious resources towards shifting the economics of energy. While I still think that we need to be pushing governments -- starting right here in the U.S. -- to pass smart legislation, inevitably, that legislation requires an implicit or explicit collaboration with the market. And in that collaboration, the incentives for clean renewable energy need to be seen as outweighing the incentives for dirty nonrenewable energy.

I'm certain that Gates and Branson can't shift these economics on their own, but boy, I can't think of many people I'd rather have out there trying. Check out Branson's speech about the Carbon War Room from last week, and Gates' TED talk, both below:

Photo credit: Robert Scoble