Jeff Bezos vows to donate ‘most of his fortune’ to fight climate change

Ecologically speaking, Bezos’ donations thus far have gone into projects related to carbon neutral building products, firms that bring climate risks into financial investment discussions, advancing data on how we track carbon emissions, and building plant-based carbon sinks on a large scale.

During the CNN interview where these latest revelations were gleaned, Bezos was boldly asked whether he intends to donate most of his wealth within his lifetime. He calmly responded: ‘Yeah, I do.’ What a soundbite.

‘Philanthropy is really hard,’ he went on to state, but claimed that he’s ‘building the capacity to be able to give away this money.’ The rest of the 20-minute slot focused on space exploration and his political views, which we’re frankly far less concerned with.

The prospect of such sizable wealth being funnelled into climate change solutions from the private sector is incredibly exciting, whether you believe it’s legit or merely an exercise in PR, however, is a different point entirely.

As COP27 has confirmed (like we didn’t already know), the most important detail of any climate negotiations is to ratify when and where funding will be mobilised.

Any hope of helping the Global South adapt to drastic climate changes, sequestering 10 gigatons of existing emissions a year, or transitioning towards renewable energy on a wide scale will require continued investment in the tens-of-trillions.

Yet, today in Sharm El Sheikh, all we’re hearing is that nations can’t agree on terms to release funding now. It’s a familiar story that gets no less painful over time.