Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the second richest man alive, through his $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund has pledged $2 billion to drive a three-fold nature agenda -conservation, restoration, and food-systems transformation.
According to the press release published on the Bezos Earth Fund website, the $2 billion will be used to restore landscapes in Africa and the U.S., increase crop and livestock production without land expansion, reduce agricultural emissions, shift diets, and reduce food loss and waste.
This commitment is in addition to the $1 billion pledged for nature at Climate Week NYC in September to help create, expand, manage, and monitor protected and conserved areas. The fund has now donated $3 billion to restore nature and deepen its three-fold agenda.
“Our commitment today supports a three-fold imperative – we must conserve what we have, restore what we’ve lost, and grow what we need in harmony with nature,” said Jeff Bezos. “Investing in nature through both traditional and innovative approaches is essential to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity, protect the beauty of the natural world, and create a prosperous future.”
Explaining how the money will be appropriated, the billionaire said one billion dollars in funding will be used to support landscape restoration, with an initial focus on Africa and the U.S. Restoration efforts in Africa will include planting trees on degraded landscapes, revitalizing grasslands, and integrating trees into farmland.
This, he said will help drive critical outcomes that include climate benefits, food security, job creation, economic growth, soil fertility, and improved connectivity between protected areas to protect biodiversity. The Bezos Earth Fund will partner with Africa-owned partners, including AFR100, to deliver these benefits at scale.
In the U.S., funding will be dedicated to the restoration of more than 20 landscapes that sequester high levels of carbon, protect biodiversity, and deliver community benefits. Forty percent of the funds allocated to U.S. nature efforts will directly engage or benefit underserved communities.
The other $1 billion will help transform food and agricultural systems to support life without degrading the planet. The Bezos Earth Fund will allocate funds to support a range of urgent imperatives, including raising crop yields while shrinking the agricultural footprint, sharply reducing food loss and waste, shifting diets towards plant-based sources, and making agricultural supply chains more sustainable.
“To conserve our natural world is to conserve our human species,” said Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, ethologist, conservationist, and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace. “We depend on nature for every breath we take and morsel we eat. We alone can determine its future – an awesome responsibility. This is a hugely welcome announcement and much needed as time is slipping away.”
“Africa is home to the world’s greatest restoration opportunity, with more than 700 million hectares of degraded land that can be restored,” said Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD. “Africa is the continent most dependent on the land for livelihoods and most vulnerable to climate change. Africa must therefore lead the way. We warmly welcome partnership with ambitious funders like the Bezos Earth Fund.”
“This commitment recognizes the urgency of the situation before us,” said Christiana Figueres, former U.N. climate chief and founding partner of Global Optimism. “For too long we have ignored the solutions that nature provides for us. Protection and restoration of our Earth is key to protecting and restoring our future. Key to our success will be reforming the way in which we produce and consume food, which is driving global warming, species loss, and inequality, rather than nourishing ourselves and our planet.”
