Two of the richest men on the planet were in Glasgow for the COP 26 summit.
Amazon multi-billionaire, Jeff Bezos, jetted in on his private plane, to speak at the summit and pledge $2bn for land restoration in Africa.
While Bill Gates, Microsoft multi-billionaire, and co-chair if the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was also at the SEC to take part in a session about Africa.
READ MORE: Watch as actor Leonardo Di Caprio is mobbed by fans at COP26 in Glasgow's SEC
Between them they are worth a reported $332bn.
The were in the venue at the same time as world leaders including US President, Joe Biden, who was there for day two of the World Leaders Summit.
Bezos, whose recent ventures include space travel, set up the Bezos Earth Fund and he said his trip into space in July made him realise how fragile the planet was.
He decided to increase the amount he was prepared to spend on land restoration.
He said: “We must conserve what we still have, we must restore what we’ve lost and we must grow what we need to live without degrading the planet for future generations to come.
“Two-thirds of the land in Africa is degraded, but this can be reversed.
“Restoration can improve soil fertility, raise yields and improve food security, make water more reliable, create jobs and boost economic growth.”
He spoke about being in space altering his perspective.
Bezos added: ““I was told that seeing the Earth from space changes the lens from which you view the world. But I was not prepared for just how much that would be true.
“Looking back at Earth from up there, the atmosphere seems so thin, the world so finite and so fragile.”
Gates announced £315m to help farmers in the developing world.
Gates said: “All of us here today have the responsibility and opportunity to help deliver the solutions our world needs.
“Together, we must build a green industrial revolution, one that stops climate change, protects vulnerable communities, and puts the world on a path to progress.
He added: “ We will lose the global fight against poverty if we don’t help vulnerable farmers adapt to climate change.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel