Amazon CEO Announces $10bn to Tackle Climate Change

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he will pledge $10 billion in a new environment fund.

Announcing the fund on Instagram, Bezos wrote:

“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.

“Earth is the one thing we all have in common – let’s protect it, together.”

Full details of the fund are yet to be announced but Bezos stated that the initiative will fund scientists, activists and NGOs from the US as well as internationally.

The announcement has been met with widespread criticism of Bezos’ company Amazon and its extensive impact on the environment with billions of deliveries per year adding to a reported carbon footprint of 44.4 metric tons in 2018 alone.

Responding to the announcement, Greenpeace USA wrote:

“So @JeffBezos just announced his $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund to address the #ClimateEmergency… and we have questions. First the big one: why won’t Bezos lead by cleaning up his own house? Amazon has massive climate issues.

“Why is Amazon lagging so far behind Google and Microsoft on transparent, ambitious plans to power its cloud services with renewable energy, not fossil fuels? Why is Amazon providing advanced computing technologies to the oil and gas industry so it can discover and drill more oil, more efficiently?”

Last year Bezos pledged that Amazon will reach net zero carbon by 2040.

The Bezos Earth Fund will begin issuing grants this summer.

Further details on the fund will be reported when available.

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