With Amazon’s Pollution, Jeff Bezos Faces Climate Fund Reckoning

Mar, 2021 - By WMR

Amazon’s founder, Mr. Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO to focus on other projects like the Bezos Earth Fund.

Once Mr. Jeff Bezos resigns as the CEO of Amazon, he is going to look forward to put efforts in his climate change actions that includes the US$ 10 billion earth fund targeted at contributing for climate change. According to the people who have been living with Amazon’s pollution say that 10 billion is a huge amount that could have affected the climate change for good but those funds now have gaps and some of those funds have been excluded.

Mr. Jeff Bezos has so far allocated US$ 791 million which is just around 8 % of the total fund given to 16 environmental organizations. Back in November, Mr. Bezos named some organizations who received the funding. Those organizations include, Environmental Defense Fund that received US$ 100 million, The Climate Works Foundation that received US$50 million and the Nature Conservancy that received US$ 100 million.

In February 2020, Mr. Bezos promised to donate his personal holdings to scientists and NGOs fighting climate change. Since the pandemic, Mr. Bezos has had a tremendous growth in his business because despite the lockdown, people chose to shop online making a huge profit to the company. Amazon’s greenhouse emissions have also grown though it was going to be under control as Mr. Bezos said during in 2019 commitment from Amazon to control its climate pollution caused by the company.

Madam Gabriela Mendez, a community organizer with the non-profit Centre for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) says she is really frustrated will all the pollution. She says Mr. Bezos has an opportunity to do a lot with the funds he has provided to the organizations. CCAEJ has fought to clean up the air in California’s Inland Empire which is an area the worst smog in the nation. Madam Mendez also says there’s been aggressive truck traffic through her neighbourhood area since an Amazon warehouse was launched nearby. “He really needs to take a look at this and prioritize these communities,” she says. Madam Mendez says Mr. Bezos really needs to prioritize these communities and take a look at them.