Amazon today launched a $ 2 billion fund to advance technologies that will reduce greenhouse gases. The fund will help Amazon and other companies join the The Climate Pledge initiative that began in September 2019. That promise committed the company, and others who adhere to it, to become carbon neutral by 2040.
To become carbon neutral, companies need tools to reduce, offset or capture all the global warming pollution they produce. The $ 2 billion will go toward advances in transportation and logistics, energy generation and storage, manufacturing and materials, food and agriculture, and waste reduction or reuse. Businesses can express interest in financing by email.
“The Climate Pledge Fund will seek to invest in visionary entrepreneurs and innovators who are creating products and services to help companies reduce their carbon footprint and operate more sustainably,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. of press. “Businesses around the world of all sizes and stages will be considered, from pre-product startups to well-established companies.” Bezos announced his own $ 10 billion climate change fund in February.
Amazon also announced today that by 2025, it will depend on renewable energy for all of its energy use. That’s five years earlier than a previously set goal.
Despite its commitments, Amazon pumped about 15 percent more carbon dioxide last year than the year before as sales increased. It released more than 51 million metric tons of CO2 in 2019, according to the 2019 sustainability report it released today. That compares to just over 44 million metric tons it emitted in 2018, which was the first time it revealed its carbon footprint.
