Billionaire investor and philanthropist Bill Gates thinks climate change is a serious problem but it will not be the end of civilisation.

He thinks scientific innovation will curb it, and it is instead time for a "strategic pivot" in the global climate fight: from focusing on limiting rising temperatures to fighting poverty and preventing disease.

A doomsday outlook has led the climate community to focus too much on near-term goals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause warming, diverting resources from the most effective things that can be done to improve life in a warming world, Gates said.

In a memo released on Tuesday, Gates said the world's primary goal should instead be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions in

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