After Being Pressured by Employees, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Yields and Donates $10-Billion to Fight Climate Change

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos finally acknowledged the threat of climate change in the planet.
• In his instagram post, he announced he will commit $10 billion of his wealth to support scientists, activists and non-government organizations.
• Bezos’ decision came after Amazon employees signed a letter asking him how his company plans to response to climate change.
• Employees also staged a walk which led to Bezos promising to go carbon neutral by 2040.

After employees staged a protest and signed petition against his inaction on climate change, the world’s richest man and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that he will donate $10 billion to fight climate change.

His commitment is reported to be one of the highest donation was made so far, among other billion dollar earner business tycoons. In an instagram post, he announced that he will be committing $10-billion through the newly-launched Bezos Earth Fund. This initiative, he said, will fund scientists, activists, and NGOs or “any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. ”

“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,” he wrote on the said post.

The Bezos Earth Fund, he said, will begin issuing grants this summer.

Bezos’ $10-billion commitment is less than 8% of his estimated $130 billion net worth. It is also one of the biggest charity pledges made among the support granted by other billionaires. 

Base on Chronicle of Philanthropy, billionaire Warren Buffet was ranked first to pledge $36 billion to charity in 2006; followed by $16.4 billion support in 2007 by Helen Walton, Walmart founder San Walton’s late wife.

“We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals,” Bezos also pointed out in his post.

In 2019, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice staged a walkout calling Bezos to do more in addressing the underlying causes like fossil fuel consumption. Thousands of Amazon employees likewise signed a letter asking about the company’s plan in addressing climate change.

During the protest, Amazon announced that it will pledge to go carbon neutral by 2040. It also said that it plans to deploy 100,000 electric delivery vans by 2024.