Climate change is such an overwhelming and systemic problem, it's easy to feel there's nothing one individual can do to fight it.
But Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates gave some concrete suggestions in an online question and answer session on Reddit on Thursday.
Buy climate-friendly products to help drive costs down
As a consumer, if you opt to buy more expensive products that contribute less carbon emissions, it may feel like a drop in the bucket. But if enough people buy those products, it will drive demand, leading to larger scale and pushing down the price of those climate conscious options, he said.
"As green products come out like electric cars or synthetic meat or heat pumps for home heating/cooling they will cost a bit extra. By buying these products you drive scaling up which will lead to lower prices so 'green premiums' are reduced," Gates said on Reddit.
The idea of a "green premium" is one that Gates has discussed often. It's the difference in price between a conventional product and the climate-friendly alternative.
Governments can help reduce the green premium by implementing policies that reduce the price of the climate conscious option and make the conventional variety more expensive, Gates said in a 2020 blog post about green premiums. Companies and investors can also help reduce the green premium by spending on climate friendly alternatives, investing in innovation and advocating governments.
But so too can individuals make a difference in the development of markets for new, cleaner product options.
"When you buy an electric vehicle or a plant-based burger even though it costs more than the alternative, you're saying to the companies that make these products: 'There's demand for these items. Make more and we'll buy them'," Gates wrote in a blog post on the topic published in 2020. "That will drive investment in research, which helps decrease the price and ultimately makes clean products more affordable and available for everyone."
Of course, for some, the more expensive alternative is not financially possible, and Gates acknowledges this in his blog post....
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