Bill Gates secures cash from Microsoft, BlackRock for climate fight

Bill Gates has raised hundreds of millions from seven large U.S. companies to develop clean technologies that could play a key role in the fight against climate change.

Breakthrough Energy, a non-profit founded by Gates in 2016, announced Monday that it has secured investments from Microsoft, BlackRock, General Motors, American Airlines, Boston Consulting Group, Bank of America and ArcelorMittal.

The overall size of the investments was not disclosed but they reportedly amount to over $1 billion. Breakthrough Energy did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

The Washington-headquartered firm said the money will be used to fund its “Breakthrough Energy Catalyst,” a project launched earlier this year that’s aiming to finance, produce, and buy the new solutions that will help underpin a zero-carbon economy.

Gates said in a statement that a “new industrial revolution” is required if the world is going to avoid a climate disaster.

“Half the technology needed to get to zero emissions either doesn’t exist yet or is too expensive for much of the world to afford,” said the Microsoft co-founder. “Catalyst is designed to change that and provide an effective way to invest in our clean technology future.”

He added: “By working with this growing community of private and public partners, Catalyst will take a global view of the energy innovation landscape – the key technologies, leading-edge companies, financing partners, and pivotal policies – and fund the projects that will have the greatest positive impact for our planet.”

The program will initially focus on direct air capture, green hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable aviation fuel.

BlackRock has pledged $100 million over five years through its charitable foundation, while Microsoft, American Airlines and ArcelorMittal have committed the same amount. The others did not disclose the size of their investments.

Despite what world leaders and CEOs say, the so-called energy transition is not actually happening just yet. Global fossil fuel use is accelerating and it’s set to get even worse, exacerbating the risk of a climate catastrophe.

“It is absolutely the case that the transition is moving too slowly from the climate perspective, but what is important to recognize is that it is primarily a matter of political will and economic choices,” Carroll Muffett, chief executive at the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law, told CNBC in April.

A highly anticipated report by the U.N.’s climate panel warned in August that limiting global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2…