Jeff Bezos pledges $10,000,000,000 to fight climate change

The Amazon CEO is donating some of his vast fortunes to fight the effects of climate change.

Jeff Bezos is donating some of his vast fortunes to fight the effects of climate change.

The Amazon CEO, who is the world’s richest man, has pledged $10 billion (£7.68b) to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment.

‘Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,’ Bezos said in an Instagram post on Monday.

‘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.’

The Bezos Earth Fund will begin issuing grants this summer as part of the initiative.

Bezos added: ‘It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation-states, global organizations, and individuals.’

Last year, Bezos pledged to make online retailer Amazon net carbon neutral by 2040 – the first major corporation to announce such a goal – and to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from U.S. vehicle design and manufacturing startup Rivian Automotive LLC.

Bezos also said at the time that Amazon would meet the goals of the Paris climate accord 10 years ahead of the accord’s schedule and invest $100 million (£76m)to restore forests and wetlands.

Cutting emissions related to Amazon, which delivers 10 billion items a year and has a massive transportation and data center footprint, will be challenging.

The company has faced recent protests by environmental activists in France and rising pressure from its own employees to take action on climate change.

Counteracting climate change has become a popular cause for US billionaires in recent years, with Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer counted among the world’s wealthiest environmental philanthropists.