The University of California is putting big money behind the fight against climate change.
School officials announced their decision Sunday to join a coalition of investors providing money to put a stop to climate change.
The university and its Office of the Chief Investment Officer is the only institutional investor among 28 coalition members in 10 countries, university officials said.
The coalition called the Breakthrough Energy Coalition is led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, according to university officials. The coalition is a complement to the Mission Innovation initiative, which has 19 member countries dedicated to increasing money available for innovations in clean energy, university officials said.
The formations of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition and the Mission Innovation initiative became public Sunday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The university will also have access to the coalition's money to solve climate challenges through research.
"With access to the private capital represented by investors in the Breakthrough Energy Coalition we can more effectively integrate our public research pipeline to deliver new technology and insights that will revolutionize the way the world thinks about and uses energy," UC President Janet Napolitano said in a statement.
"We can't ask for a better partner than the University of California Office of the President and the Office of the Chief Investment Officer to help accomplish the Breakthrough Energy Coalition's ambitious goal," Gates said in a statement.
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"The UC system -- with its world leading campuses and labs -- produces the kinds of groundbreaking technologies that will help define a global energy future that is cheaper, more reliable, and does not contribute to climate change," Gates added.
