Jeff Bezos Is Pledging $10 Billion USD to Save the Planet

Jeff Bezos — Chief Executive Officer of Amazon — has just announced his Earth fund, which will commit $10 billion USD towards fighting climate change.

The CEO revealed on his Instagram account earlier today that his pledge, named the Bezos Earth Fund, will help aid the efforts to combat climate change, as the global epidemic spreads with melting ice caps, rising temperatures, coastal erosion and more.

Bezos’s post included the official statement for the Bezos Earth Fund:

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. This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals. ⁣⁣⁣
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I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together.⁣⁣⁣
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In addition to the reveal that the money will go towards NGOs, scientists, activists and more, The Verge also reports that the finances will not go towards private sector investment, but rather charitable giving.

This charitable cause follows in the footsteps of Amazon’s latest Q4 earnings report which now push the company back onto the short list of trillion dollar companies. Bezos also reportedly donated $1 million AUD (approximately $690,000 USD) towards Australian bushfire relief back in January.

In related news, the 2020 Brand Intimacy Study — research that looks into the emotional connection consumers have with specific companies — lists Amazon as one of the top three, alongside Apple and Disney.