Jeff Bezos wants to take a lead in tackling climate change, and has hence announced a massive $10 billion fund to tackle the same. He announced the same via an Instagram post, detailing how he plans to deploy the money. The fund is called the ‘Bezos Earth Fund’ and Bezos will start granting money from the same starting this summer. With a net worth of over $129 billion, Bezos is among the world’s richest men on planet.
Bezos and climate change aren’t new to each other. However, in most cases where the two are linked, Amazon and Bezos have been found to be on the wrong side of things.
Take for example, a recent protest that was carried out by a group of his company’s own employees. The protesters wanted Amazon to take strict measures to arrest climate change, measures which were required largely within the company itself. The protesters then alleged, that Bezos and other Amazon executives were looking to fire these protesters for speaking up.
It isn’t that Amazon hasn’t done much in the domain. It did commit to net zero carbon emissions from its operations by 2040 and that it would move to power its entire corporate infrastructure with 100% renewable energy by 2030. However, the downside to Amazon’s businesses when it comes to climate are way too heavy.
The company continues to employ large amounts of plastics in its packaging, generating tonnes of waste that won’t degrade at least in our lifetimes. The company also has its own massive delivery fleet of vehicles, which are a source for immense amount of green house gases.
Nevertheless, the $10 billion fund is a hugely positive step. Also, according to a NYTimes report, the fund will not be used to fund projects that earn profits, but would rather be allotted as grants. Bezos said in his post, that he plans to start handing out cheques by this summer. He says, “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.”
