$10 Billion "Bezos Climate Fund" Will Issue Grants Summer 2020!! Today's The 1st Day Of Fall . . .

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For example, last year Amazon's Climate Pledge — a vow to offset more planet-warming carbon dioxide than it emits by 2040 — was unveiled the day before 1,500 of its workers planned to walk out as part of a global climate strike (Climatewire, Sept. 20, 2019). Then Amazon announced its sustainability fund on June 23, the same day it disclosed that the company's emissions grew 15% from 2018 levels to nearly 51.2 million metric tons — roughly equivalent to the carbon footprint of Portugal. Later that week, it paid to rename a Seattle sports venue Climate Pledge Arena (Climatewire, June 26).

And Bezos told the world about his massive Earth Fund in an Instagram post Feb. 17, the day before the investigative show "Frontline" was set to air "Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos." The two-hour-long documentary raised questions about the company's anti-competitive behavior and other harmful business practices.

Bezos said his billions would "fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world." While short on specifics, the brief post spurred speculation that his fund could revolutionize environmental philanthropy and the climate movement more broadly (Climatewire, Feb. 20). The following week, Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, his girlfriend, discussed "climate, sustainability and preserving the natural world" with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Amazon CEO wrote in another Instagram post. It included the hashtag #BezosEarthFund.

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Yet Bezos and his attorney haven't revealed basic details regarding the fund, which still doesn't have its own website. No announcements have been made as to the legal structure, staffing or specific funding opportunities it will pursue. The lack of public progress has frustrated climate activists. "With climate change affecting me today, through fires on the west coast, I am pained to see how limited and vague the Climate Pledge Fund and Bezos Earth Fund are," Victoria Liang, a former Amazon software development engineer who helped organize the employee climate walkout last year, said in an email. "While having these funds is a step in the right direction, none goes far enough considering the urgency with which we need to act."

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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063714215