EGEB: How will Amazon’s Bezos Earth Fund spend its $10B by 2030?

March 10, 2021 by admin 37 Comments

The Bezos Earth Fund’s new CEO Andrew Steer says it will spend its $10 billion by 2030, but he hasn’t yet provided a road map.
EV charging industry association ChargeUp Europe gains its 13th member, Portugal’s Power Dot.
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Earth Fund big spend by 2030

World Resources Institute (WRI) CEO Andrew Steer has been named as the first president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, and yesterday, Steer announced on Twitter that the $10 billion Earth Fund would be spent by 2030:

I am deeply honored to have been invited by @JeffBezos to become the first President and CEO of the $10B Earth Fund. It will address climate, nature and environmental justice. Jeff’s goal is to spend it down between now and 2030, the date by which the SDGs must be achieved. [2/5]

— Dr. Andrew Steer (@AndrewSteerWRI) March 9, 2021

Steer tweeted:

The Earth Fund will invest in scientists, NGOs, activists, and the private sector to help drive new technologies, investments, policy change, and behavior. We will emphasize social justice, as climate change disproportionately hurts poor and marginalized communities.

Bezos announced he would step down as Amazon’s CEO in February to focus on philanthropic and science interests. In an Instagram post, Bezos said of Steer:

Andrew has decades of experience in environmental and climate science as well as economic and social policy in the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most recently, he has been president and CEO of World Resources Institute, where he leads over 1,400 experts working to alleviate poverty while protecting the natural world.

BusinessGreen reports that “in November, $791 million of grants were issued to 16 environmental organizations in the Earth Fund’s first ever funding round, of which $100 million was allocated to the WRI.” Other recipients included the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The CEO Magazine rightly notes:

The Bezos Earth Fund is Amazon’s answer to its own record on carbon emissions. Amazon has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2040. Its most recent sustainability report showed that its carbon footprint, for now, is rising quickly — up 15% in 2019 compared to 2018, when the company disclosed its emissions for the first time.

Electrek’s Take: This fund is a great thing – it’s a lot of money that can, and likely will, be used for innovation, developing technology, and policy change in green energy. In February, for example, Amazon officially started using the first Rivian electric vans to make customer deliveries in Los Angeles. But we would like to see more transparency and a detailed road map from the Earth Fund, and what its structure will look like, especially seeing how Amazon is a huge emitter in its own right.

ChargeUp Europe grows

ChargeUp Europe, the “voice of the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure industry, working toward an expeditious and effortless rollout of EV charging infrastructure in Europe,” is gaining Power Dot, a Portuguese EV charging operator, as its 13th and newest member. This expands its geographical representation in Southern Europe.

Founded in 2018, Power Dot manages more than 800 charging points. Power Dot offers an EV charging solution at no cost for retailers in Portugal, France, and Spain. It invests, installs, and operates EV chargers in supermarkets, shopping malls, retail parks, restaurants, and other commercial spaces.

Luís Santiago Pinto, partner at Power Dot, said:

Joining ChargeUp Europe is an important step for us as we want to play an active part in shaping an EU-wide EV charging infrastructure sector that enables the speedy and efficient rollout of charging infrastructure. Ultimately, we want to give EV drivers a seamless and enjoyable charging experience no matter where they drive in Europe. ChargeUp Europe can play a key role in delivering on this.

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