COP26 News: Jeff Bezos Pledges $2 Billion In Climate Funding
In a speech Tuesday at the COP26 climate conference, Amazon founder and former company CEO Jeff Bezos pledged an additional $2 billion in funding on top of the $1 billion already promised by the Bezos Earth Fund in September to fight climate change.
The added $2 billion will go toward restoring nature and transforming food systems. The Bezos Earth Fund is a part of a commitment by Bezos to spend $10 billion fighting climate change this decade.
“Together, this $3 billion in pledges will drive a new threefold nature agenda for the Bezos Earth Fund, focused simultaneously on conservation, restoration and food transformation,” Bezos said.
Bezos, who is worth $193 billion according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, talked in his address about how his time in space changed his perspective on Earth and how important it is to preserve its beauty. Since stepping down as Amazon’s CEO in July, his focus has been on going to space and saving the planet.
Prince William criticized the idea of space tourism in an interview with the BBC in October.
“We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” Prince William said.
Bezos was also one of the attendees of the conference who traveled by private plane, as environmental activists urge people to cut down on air travel, which has a significant effect on reducing carbon emissions.
Amazon came out in 2019 with a pledge to go net-zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement.
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