NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will commit $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change, he said on Monday.
Bezos, who is the world’s richest man, is among a growing list of billionaires to dedicate substantial funds towards combating the impact of global warming.
“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” Bezos said in an Instagram post. “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.”
The Bezos Earth Fund will begin issuing grants this summer as part of the initiative.
“It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals,” Bezos said.
Counteracting climate change has become a popular cause for U.S. billionaires in recent years, with Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer counted among the world’s wealthiest environmental philanthropists. Last year, Bezos pledged to make online retailer Amazon net carbon neutral by 2040 – the first major corporation to announce such a goal – and to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from U.S. vehicle design and manufacturing startup Rivian Automotive LLC.
Bezos also said at the time that Amazon would meet the goals of the Paris climate accord 10 years ahead of the accord’s schedule and invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.
Cutting emissions related to Amazon, which delivers 10 billion items a year and has a massive transportation and data center footprint, will be challenging.
The company has faced recent protests by environmental activists in France and rising pressure from its own employees to take action on climate change.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; additional reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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