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Jeff Bezos pledges $10 billion to help stamp out climate change

Jeff Bezos pledges $10 billion to help stamp out climate change

What a great monetary investment

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos — the world's richest man — is pledging $10 billion of his massive fortune in order to quash climate change and its effect on the globe.

Bezos' $10 billion pledge is approximately 8% of his massive fortune, reportedly valued around $130 billion.

What are the details?

Bezos shared the news Monday on Instagram.

In his post, Bezos said the money would help finance advancements in science and supplement activist work through grants.

Bezos' fund — called the Bezos Earth Fund — is set to begin distributing the grants over the summer.

His post read, "Today, I'm thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.⁣⁣⁣ Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. 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."

"This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world," the post continued. "We can save Earth. It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals."

"I'm committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let's protect it, together," Bezos' post concluded.

What else?

According to CNBC, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice issued a statement about the new program.

"We applaud Jeff Bezos' philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away," the group said in a Monday statement. "The people of Earth need to know: When is Amazon going to stop helping oil & gas companies ravage Earth with still more oil and gas wells?"

In September, Amazon pledged to purchase a large fleet of electric-powered vehicles to deliver packages to consumers beginning in 2021. The company said that all 100,000 Amazon delivery vehicles will be replaced by electric-powered vehicles by 2030 at the latest. USA Today reporter Nathan Bomey reported that the fleet will be fully electric by 2024.

At the time, Bezos announced that Amazon purchased the vehicles — all 100,000 of them — from Michigan-based electric vehicle startup, Rivian.

That same month, Bezos also issued The Climate Pledge, vowing to make Amazon carbon-neutral by 2040, and aiming for at least 80% of the corporation's energy use to be renewable by 2024.

In April, thousands of Amazon employees banded together by writing an open letter demanding that their employer draft a climate change plan.

A portion of the open letter — which was signed by more than 3,500 Amazon employees — read, "Amazon has the resources and scale to spark the world's imagination and redefine what is possible and necessary to address the climate crisis. We believe this is a historic opportunity for Amazon to stand with employees and signal to the world that we're ready to be a climate leader."

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