BILLIONAIRE eco-warrior Bill Gates told Brits to give up their cars today – while admitting he still uses a private jet.
The Microsoft founder – the world’s fourth richest man – insisted he is not a hypocrite as he uses biofuel made from plants to run his private planes.
Mr Gates insisted he is not a hypocrite as he uses biofuel made from plants to run his private planes.
But critics said it was delusional of a globe-trotting billionaire to expect cash-strapped families to fork out extra for electric cars to go green.
Mr Gates told the BBC yesterday “we are not going to stop building buildings, and flying planes” but instead they should look at how to make that greener.
He revealed in his new book – How to Avoid a Climate Disaster – that he even flew on a private jet to the Paris climate change summit in 2015.
Mr Gates went on to admit he was an “imperfect messenger on climate change” as people would think he was a hypocrite.
He ordered ordinary people to use less, buy an electric car or pricey heat pump to make their homes green.
Mr Gates said yesterday: “I am buying biofuel, where I pay three times as much for my aviation fuel.”
He said people should use their feet to “buy an electric car, buy an electric heat pump” to get the price of the goods down.
He vowed: “While behaviour change is a good thing, we are not going to stop building buildings, or flying planes.”
And he claimed climate change will cause “far more deaths” than the current Covid-19 pandemic and would be easier than the current pandemic.
The computer whizz demanded Governments around the world subsidise businesses to go green with extra research and development funding.
But Tory MP Robert Goodwill told Trending In The News the billionaire was lucky as he “doesn’t have to think twice about the cost of a heat pump or an electric Tesla” like many thousands of ordinary people do.
A new electric car will cost an average of £45,000 – with some reaching even more than that.
He added: “But nevertheless that doesn’t diminish the message he’s saying.”
It comes ahead of the UK hosting the nation’s COP26 climate summit later this year, where the PM is expected to boost the nation’s green credentials.
The PM is being urged to bring the world together to agree on new goals to tackle the climate crisis and help save the planet before it’s too late.
