Brazil's political swings hamper efforts to protect the Amazon, Gates says

Brazil’s efforts to slow deforestation are encouraging, but political swings have made it tough to get the investment needed to protect the Amazon, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said.

Satellite systems now do a very good job at measuring forest destruction, Gates said during a virtual interview at the Bloomberg New Economy at B20 in Sao Paulo. But getting the exact policies in place to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest are still “somewhat challenging,” he said, “particularly as you get different parties in power.”

Brazil has improved its efforts to mitigate deforestation, Gates said, citing conversations he’s had with some of the country’s leaders ahead of the United Nations climate summit COP30 next year. The conference will be held in Belem, capital of the state of Pará, as part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s plan to bring it to the Amazon forest.

Gates, who is also a climate tech investor, said one of his best breakthrough companies is building a steel plant with partners in Brazil. The startup, Boston Metal, is supported by Gates’ venture capital fund and iron ore company Vale, which is focused on producing steel more sustainably.

“They’re actually working with partners in Brazil to build a plant there, which looks like it’ll be able to make very competitive steel, but in a very, very clean way,” he said.

The Microsoft Corp. co-founder also said it’s important to find less expensive ways to generate green energy in order to get broad adoption in developing countries such as Brazil and India. If the more sustainable methods come with higher prices, they won’t be adopted, he said.

He also acknowledged the importance of nuclear energy, saying it will be a substantial part of power generation that compliments renewables in the future. In a number of countries, including the US, both the public attitude and the level of investment in nuclear fission “is quite positive,” he said.

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(With assistance from Felipe Saturnino, Martha Beck, Mariana Durao and Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo.)