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Jeff Bezos Pledges $1 Billion To Conserve Land And Sea In Critical Areas Of The World

September 22, 2021

The Bezos Earth Fund has pledged $1 billion to conserve and protect vulnerable areas of the world.

Jeff Bezos announces $1 billion pledge

The pledge is part of Jeff Bezos's $10 billion commitment to fight climate change and protect and restore nature.

"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," said Jeff Bezos.

"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. 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."

During the announcement, Bezos referenced his recent space flight.

"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, the atmosphere, seem vast, and they seem stable. But looking back at Earth from up there, the atmosphere seems thin, and the world finite. Both beautiful, both fragile."

The Earth Fund will focus initially on the Congo Basin, the tropical Andes, and the tropical Pacific Ocean.

The commitment announced today represents the first of a three-part Nature strategy the Bezos Earth Fund will support. The focus here is on conservation. Future commitments will be for landscape restoration and on food system transformation.