The CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos is pledging 10 billion dollars to the fight against climate change. The new initiative is called the Bezos Earth Fund and has become the third-largest charitable donation in our history.
In a post on Instagram, Jeff Bezos acknowledged climate change as the biggest threat to our planet. The fund is will be used to fund scientific research for both new and existing methods to prevent/mitigate climate change, activists, and NGOs.
The fund will start operations this summer.
Jeff Bezos Under Pressure
Amazon workers have been trying to bring change to the company for quite some time. In fact, it is thanks to these efforts, and the threat of a large walkout, that caused Amazon to shift its climate plan by 10 years.
As a result, Amazon will become climate neutral in 2040 instead of the planned 2050.
However, even after this huge victory, workers have not stopped pushing for the company to do more. And it looks like this donation is the next result of their push.
After this announcement, the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice had this to say:
“We applaud Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away…”
Which is in reference to Amazon working with oil and gas companies. It seems clear that this charitable act will not be enough to satisfy his critics.
A Step in the Right Direction
It is important to understand the significance of a donation this size by the wealthiest man in the world. It puts pressure on other figures of a similar status, which can have a significant impact.
We are already seeing other large companies like Microsoft committing more resources and accelerating plans related to going carbon neutral quicker than initially planned.
This could trigger even more CEOs to come forward with their own funds or move towards a greener business model.
