Breakthrough Energy, an umbrella group for energy and environmental efforts funded by Bill Gates, has laid off US and European policy teams.
The move is allegedly due to a shift in the company’s public policy advocacy efforts
Quoting sources, several media reports said that the company laid off staff members, including Breakthrough Energy’s unit in Europe, its team in the United States working on public policy issues, and most of its employees working on partnerships with other climate organizations.
“Bill Gates remains as committed as ever to advancing the clean energy innovations needed to address climate change,” a Breakthrough Energy spokesperson said in an email statement, The New York Times reported. “His work in this area will continue and is focused on helping drive reliable, affordable, clean energy solutions that will enable people everywhere to thrive.”
The paper also reported that Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a major investor in early-stage climate technologies, and Breakthrough Catalyst, a funding platform, were not affected by the recent cuts. However, Cipher News, funded by Breakthrough Energy, is seeking new funding sources for climate solutions stories.
According to media reports, Breakthrough Energy is relocating from policy work amid the Trump administration’s reductions in federal climate change efforts, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff firing, project cancellations, and US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
It must be noted that Mr. Gates had emphasized the importance of developing new policies to deploy advanced climate technologies, despite political distractions in the US, highlighting the limited hope for progress in his 2021 book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.
