Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Pledges $10 Billion To Fight Climate Change

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced a massive new campaign to help save the Earth from climate change. The world's richest man has announced he is launching the Bezos Earth Fund with $10 billion of his own money to kick things off.

He announced the initiative in an Instagram post, in which he stressed that "climate change is the biggest threat to our planet." He said the Bezos Earth Fund will provide grants to scientists, activists, non-governmental organizations, and other campaigns that fight the impact of climate change.

"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," he said. "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."

The first of the grants will go out this summer. Bezos is believed to have a net worth of over $120 billion USD.

Amazon, one of the world's largest companies, has an "enormous carbon footprint," according to The Hollywood Reporter, as it ships products globally using fossil fuel for planes, trucks, and more. Some of Amazon's workers have created the Amazon Employees for Climate Action group that has criticized the company for not doing enough to fight climate change.

Amazon has pledged to do better with regards its energy consumption. In 2019, the company unveiled plans to use solar and wind power as part of its plan to make the business carbon-neutral by 2040.

The Bezos Earth Fund is separate from Amazon's own initiatives, with the $10 billion coming directly from Bezos himself. It follows his previous fund, The Day 1 Families Fund, which is financing a network of non-profit schools to help homeless families. Bezos and his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos committed $2 billion to that effort.

Amazon is much more than an online retailer these days. The company also operates a major movie and TV business with Amazon Studios, with the Lord of the Rings TV show as one of its major upcoming projects. Amazon also runs Amazon Game Studios that is behind the two upcoming MMOs, including New World and an untitled Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon also owns the video streaming site Twitch and the grocery store chain Whole Foods, while Bezos himself owns The Washington Post.

The announcement of this new Bezos Earth Fund comes just days after it was discovered that Bezos is paying a record $165 million to buy a Hollywood mansion formerly owned by music business legend David Geffen.

Looking beyond Bezos and Amazon, Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will be more environmentally friendly, while Microsoft is creating the world's first carbon-neutral game console.

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