Jeff Bezos pledges $ 1 billion for conservation through the Bezos Earth Fund

Jeff Bezos pledged Monday to give $ 1 billion in grants this year with a focus on conservation efforts.

The pledge comes from the Bezos Earth Fund, which the founder and president of Amazon launched in 2020 to fulfill his $ 10 billion pledge to tackle climate change. The Bezos Earth Fund has pledged to donate approximately $ 1 billion per year to activists, scientists and other groups working to address the global climate crisis, with a goal of spending $ 10 billion by 2030.

Following this year’s focus on conservation, the fund said over the coming years it intends to support efforts to restore landscapes and transport the food system.

The latest round of grants will be used to “create, expand, manage and monitor protected and conserved areas,” the Bezos Earth Fund said in a statement. For starters, the fund plans to focus on the Congo Basin in Central Africa, the tropical Andes region, and the tropical Pacific Ocean, all of which are key areas for biodiversity and carbon stocks, or the amount of carbon. stored in things such as vegetation, soils and oceans.

“The natural world is no better today than it was 500 years ago, when we enjoyed pristine forests, clean rivers and the pure air of the pre-industrial era,” said Bezos in a press release. “We can and must reverse this anomaly.”

It is not yet clear which organizations will receive the grants. Donations will be prioritized in areas where local communities and indigenous peoples are at the heart of conservation programs, among other considerations, the Bezos Earth Fund said.

Earlier this month, the fund announced it would give $ 203.7 million by the end of the year to organizations working for climate justice, among other causes. That’s after awarding $ 791 million in grants last year to 16 organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Nature Conservancy.