In their 2016 Annual Letter, Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ask: “if you could have one superpower, what would it be?” Their answers point to key opportunities to improve the lives of the world’s poorest families: more energy and more time.

“Poverty is not just about a lack of money. It’s about the absence of the resources the poor need to realize their potential. Two critical ones are time and energy,” they write.

In the face of climate change, the world needs an “energy miracle,” the letter states. After all, “the truth is, the people who will be hit the hardest [by climate change] are the world’s poorest. Millions of the poorest families work as farmers. Changes in weather often mean that their crops won’t grow because of too little rain or too much rain. That sinks them deeper into poverty. That’s particularly unfair because they’re the least responsible for emitting CO₂, which is causing the problem in the first place.”

But innovations in the world’s energy sources can reduce CO₂ and can also make energy more affordable for everyone. And, with 1.3 billion people – 18 percent of the world’s population – who lack access to electricity, affordable energy can unleash the opportunities and benefits that come with access to a steady source of power.

 As the letter points out, the world’s poor don’t just lack access to energy – they lack time, particularly women, who worldwide spend an average of 4.5 hours a day on unpaid work.  This means less time spent in the labor market, on their education, or on their well-being. 



The solution, they write, lies in principles known as “Recognize, Reduce, and Redistribute: Recognize that unpaid work is still work. Reduce the amount of time and energy it takes. And Redistribute it more evenly between women and men.” Here, again, innovation plays a key role in increasing the amount of time available to women: better roads and running water and labor-saving technologies can go a long way in allowing women to spend their time more efficiently. 

Ultimately, the superpower that they call on everyone to unleash is the power to make a difference in the lives of others.

To learn more, read the 2016 Annual Letter at gatesletter.com.