A Seattle book salesman has pledged 8% of his net worth to fight climate change, taking to Instagram to share the news with customers at home and abroad.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos today revealed that US$10b (AU$14.8b) will go into the new Bezos Earth Fund, an initiative he says will “amplify” the work of activists, scientists, and charities to combat environmental devastation.
“We can save Earth,” Bezos said.
“It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.”
The 56-year-old said the fund will distribute grants in the coming months.
What is unclear what form those grants will take, but Bezos, whose net worth is estimated to sit around US$126b (AU$187.6b), could hand that cash to activists and scientists with no strings attached and feel zero material repercussions for doing so.
Bezos also looms large over the planet’s biggest online retailer, and has financial interests in the media, the entertainment industry, food supplies, and even space travel, meaning he’d be keen to preserve the planet which provides his customer base.
The move comes less than six months after Amazon employees in 25 cities worldwide staged a walkout to protest the company’s stance on climate change.
Those protests took place after Bezos announced the company will attempt to become carbon neutral by 2040, a target which climate activists think should be accelerated to 2030.
At least Bezos still recognises people will live on this planet for the foreseeable future, we guess.
“Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together,” he said.
