Washington D.C. — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Monday that he is committing $10 billion to fight climate change. He said the funds will go to creating a new venture called Bezos Earth Fund. This comes months after thousands of Amazon employees launched a massive call demanding the company meet its moral responsibility around tackling the climate crisis.
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, 350.org North America Director, said:
“Amazon could pay $10 billion in taxes to fully fund the Green New Deal. Communities are leading the way in building real solutions to the climate crisis, not billionaires. The Bezos Earth Fund certainly comes as a surprise to us from a CEO who has ignored efforts to reel in his own corporations’ climate damages, and who has consistently pandered to fossil fuel interests. 350.org stands in solidarity with the thousands of workers holding Amazon accountable and modeling a just transition led by workers. We expect The Bezos Earth Fund to act on the efforts of these workers, and follow-through on demands for higher climate standards within the company.
“Amazon and Jeff Bezos have a long way to go in sufficiently addressing their own role in propelling the climate crisis. We respect this investment as a first step in the right direction, insofar as it mobilizes resources towards people-oriented, restorative solutions, rather than false ones that inflate Amazon’s bottom line.”
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Contact: Lindsay Meiman, [email protected], +1 (347) 460-9082