Bill Gates is leaving Britain behind on carbon capture – can we afford not to get involved?

Once again, the rest of the world is powering ahead and the UK is floundering, says Chris Blackhurst. With millions to be made in green tech, it’s not just the planet that is set to gain from an investment in these new industries

David Cameron was among those courting the attention of Bill Gates at Cop28 in Dubai (AP)

At the recent Cop28 climate crisis talks in Dubai, one of the star attractions was Bill Gates. The Microsoft co-founder, now a committed philanthropist, health and green campaigner, drew crowds whenever he went. These were not celebrity-gazers but Cop28 attendees, many of them experts, impressed by the extent of Gates’s knowledge and zeal, and wanting to hear what he had to say.

Gates has exhibited the same degree of thirst for climate solutions as he did in developing commonly used software all those years ago. One packed session found Gates in conversation with Microsoft president Brad Smith and the dean of Stanford’s Sustainability School, Arun Majumdar.

The topic was the importance of carbon dioxide removal, or CDR, using technologies such as carbon capture. It’s estimated they could contribute to 10 per cent of the world’s carbon reduction targets and so are not to be sniffed at.