He’s the richest man in the world, and now Jeff Bezos has pledged $10 billion (£7.7 billion) of his personal money to fight climate change.
The Amazon CEO will commit $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change, he revealed on Instagram .
Writing on the social media app, he said: “Today, I’m thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.
“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. 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.
“This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.
“We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organisations, and individuals.
“I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together.”
Mr Bezos is currently the richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of a whopping $129.9 billion (£100.17 billion).
But he isn’t the only billionaire to pledge to use his money to fight climate change.
In recent years, US billionaires including Microsoft's Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer have also committed to funding climate change science.
Amazon has faced protests by environmental activists and pressure from its employees to take action on climate change.
Amazon workers were among hundreds of employees of big technology companies to join climate change marches in San Francisco and Seattle late last year, saying their employers had been too slow to tackle global warming and needed to take more drastic action.
Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an activist workers group, welcomed the Bezos Earth Fund announcement, but said it did not make up for the company's consumption of fossil fuels and other activities that contribute to climate change.
"We applaud Jeff Bezos' philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away," the group said on Twitter .
