Jeff Bezos is coming forward to help.
The Amazon founder, who is also the world’s richest person, on Monday (September 20) announced a $1 billion pledge for conservation projects for the Bezos Earth Fund.
The work will largely focus on the Congo Basin, the tropical Andes and the tropical Pacific Ocean, and donations will now begin through 2030 as part of a $10 billion plan to tackle climate change.
His organization has joined the international 30×30 initiative to “protect and conserve 30 percent of land and sea by 2030”
“Nature is our life support system and it’s fragile. I was reminded of this just this July when I went into space with Blue Origin. I’d heard that seeing the Earth from space changes one’s point of view of the world. But I was not prepared for just how much that would be true,” he said.
“Living down here, the world and the atmosphere seem vast and they seem stable. But looking back at Earth from there, the atmosphere seems thin and the world finite. Both beautiful, both fragile.”
“When people hanker for the good old days and glamorize the past, they’re almost always wrong. By most metrics, life is better than it was in the past. Global poverty rates are lower, infant mortality and life expectancies are better, and education rates are much higher. But there is a notable exception – the natural world is not better today than it was 500 years ago, when we enjoyed unspoiled forests, clean rivers, and the pristine air of the pre-industrial age,” he said.
“We can and must reverse this anomaly. By coming together with the right focus and ingenuity, we can have both the benefits of our modern lives and a thriving natural world. I hope this commitment inspires others to make their own pledges to protect and conserve nature and help in the fight against climate change. A job this big needs many allies.”