"We can save the Earth. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, announced on his Instagram post this Monday that he has launched the Bezos Earth Fund. The richest man in the world says he personally endows the fund with $ 10 billion, "to start", and that the first grants to researchers, activists and NGOs will be awarded this summer.
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Today, I'm thrilled to announce I am launching 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. 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. - Jeff
A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos) on Feb 17, 2020 at 10:00 am PST
Fighting climate change “requires collective action in big and small companies, states, global organizations and individuals. […] Earth is the thing we all have in common. Let's protect it, together, ”he concludes.
Large producer of greenhouse gases
This decision comes twenty days after 300 Amazon employees signed criticisms against their group, in particular concerning its environmental policy.
Amazon, which has built its success on a huge logistics network of road transport to ensure increasingly fast deliveries, is a large producer of greenhouse gases, the main culprits of climate change. The server farms of Amazon, which has made the cloud (dematerialized computing) another very important source of profits, are also extremely energy-hungry.
According to the online Climate Watch platform, the 44.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent produced each year by Amazon represent just over 10% of France's total annual emissions.
Amazon targeted by multiple actions
Protests for the protection of the environment and against large polluting companies have multiplied this fall and this winter, notably under the leadership of associations like Greenpeace, the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg or the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement.
Amazon was thus the target of several actions to denounce overconsumption and its ecological consequences during Black Friday in November, one of the great promotional days which contribute to the colossal revenues of the multinational.
Jeff Bezos is also the founder of the space company Blue Origin, one of the stated goals of which is to develop human activity in space, especially on the Moon, to alleviate pollution on Earth. In September, he promised that Amazon would achieve carbon neutrality in 2040.