{"id":1689458,"date":"2026-08-27T12:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1689458"},"modified":"2026-08-27T12:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:38:22","slug":"bezos-earth-fund-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/08\/bezos-earth-fund-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"How Jeff Bezos’ $10B Earth Fund Has Fought Climate Change\u2014So Far"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lauren
Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos and Jeff Bezos attend the ICCF U.S. Congressional International Conservation Leadership Awards Dinner at Waldorf Astoria on Oct. 24, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Bezos Earth Fund<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2020, a year before stepping down as Amazon\u2019s CEO, Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion to tackle some of the world\u2019s biggest climate challenges by 2030 and <\/span>unveiled the Bezos Earth Fund.<\/span><\/a> The Amazon founder called climate change \u201cthe biggest threat to our planet,\u201d promising that the money would support \u201cscientists, activists, NGOs\u201d and offer \u201ca real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.\u201d Six years later, the fund has awarded at least $2.4 billion across over 371 grants<\/a>, according to its<\/span> website<\/span>. With around three-quarters of the pledge still to\u00a0<\/span>be allocated,\u00a0<\/span>the fund’s efforts have\u00a0fallen behind schedule<\/a>, though it<\/span>\u00a0says it remains committed to disbursing the full $10 billion by 2030.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Andrew Steer, former head of the World Resources Institute, became the Earth Fund\u2019s first president and CEO in 2021. Last year, he was succeeded by Tom Taylor,<\/a> the longtime Amazon executive who served on Bezos\u2019 senior team (known as the S-Team) and once ran the company\u2019s Alexa division. Bezos\u2019s newlywed wife, Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos, serves as the Earth Fund\u2019s vice chair.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Earth Fund <\/span>says<\/span> it doesn\u2019t \u201cjust write checks and walk away.<\/a>\u201d But how its projects are chosen remains largely opaque. Nor does it accept unsolicited proposals, saying its grantmaking is directed toward programs already identified on its website.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Therefore, the grants themselves offer the clearest picture of the fund\u2019s priorities. While far from exhaustive, the list below includes some of the Earth Fund\u2019s largest and most noteworthy donations to date.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phoenix Species Project: $100 million pledged in 2026<\/b><\/h3>\n

In 2021, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and biologist Wes Sechrest met with Bezos and S\u00e1nchez to discuss various conservation topics. Those talks ultimately produced the $200 million Phoenix Species Project, unveiled this year. The effort aims to recover critically endangered species across 30 countries. More than <\/span>31,000 species<\/span><\/a> assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature are categorized as endangered, critically endangered or extinct in the wild. Phoenix will concentrate on 100 of them\u2014a fraction of the global crisis, but a test of whether sustained funding can do more than slow their disappearance. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The Earth Fund is supplying $100 million, while Re:wild,<\/span> co-founded by Sechrest, has committed the other half with backing from DiCaprio, Dax Dasilva\u2019s Age of Union and the Todd Graves Family Foundation. <\/span>Graves, the billionaire founder of Raising Cane\u2019s and a friend of<\/span> DiCaprio’s said the actor’s work with Re:wild inspired him “to help in a meaningful way<\/a>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

From that small circle of wealthy donors, the money will flow through more than 100 partners, including Association Fanamby in Madagascar, Bush Heritage Australia and the Amphibian & Reptile Conservancy in North Carolina. <\/span>The roster spans mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates and plants, from Australia\u2019s elusive night parrot to Mexico\u2019s Charco Azul pupfish. Others include the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, found only in a North Carolina canyon, and South Africa\u2019s \u201cfuzzy belly button,\u201d a succulent poached for the ornamental-plant trade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each species will receive funding over five years, freeing conservationists from the shorter grant cycles that can disrupt recovery work. Organizers say Phoenix will track population recovery and reductions in threats, but the newly launched project is still too early to have produced measurable results.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Opening Round: $791 million pledged in 2020<\/b><\/h3>\n

At $791 million, the Earth Fund\u2019s first major outlay remains its largest. The oddly specific total covered 16 grants, but nearly two-thirds of the money was concentrated among five organizations: The Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute and World Wildlife Fund each received $100 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The choices also foreshadowed who would run the fund. World Resources Institute, then led by Andrew Steer, received $100 million over five years for satellite-based land monitoring and an initiative helping U.S. school districts and others plan and finance electric buses. A few months later, Steer left WRI to become the Earth Fund\u2019s first president and CEO.<\/span><\/p>\n

The grants have since produced a mixed record. WWF said that by late 2025, its mangrove program had protected or restored more than 2.4 million acres across Colombia, Fiji, Madagascar and Mexico. EDF, meanwhile, put part of its grant toward MethaneSAT, a satellite built to detect methane emissions from oil and gas operations. It collected data for roughly a year before its team lost contact with the satellite in 2025. EDF said the broader effort would continue, including through MethaneAIR, a sensor-equipped aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greening America\u2019s Cities: $400 million pledged in 2023<\/b><\/h3>\n

S\u00e1nchez Bezos is the public face of Greening America\u2019s Cities, which focuses on creating cooler, healthier neighborhoods. In 2023, she unveiled the $400 million program at Los Angeles\u2019 Pacoima Wash alongside then-White House senior adviser John Podesta, Sen. Alex Padilla and other leaders. As extreme heat makes the cooling effects of trees and parks more consequential, access to green space is becoming a form of urban infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

By mid-2026, the Earth Fund had deployed $150 million through 39 grants in 11 cities, supporting local nonprofits and community-led projects, often in partnership with city governments. In Los Angeles, Pacoima Beautiful, a woman-led environmental justice group founded by local mothers, received $3.5 million to help turn the Pacoima Wash from a flood-control channel into a greenway. In Chicago, Grow Greater Englewood is using its $3.8 million to help convert more than 10 acres of polluted land into an agricultural-eco district and nature trail.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Earth Fund <\/span>announced a second $100 million round<\/span><\/a> of the total commitment in July, S\u00e1nchez Bezos recalled taking the bus after school to her grandmother\u2019s Albuquerque home and spending hours in a nearby park. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to give people with this program,\u201d she said. \u201cNot just green space. A place that feels like yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sustainable Protein Network: $100 million announced in 2024<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Earth Fund\u2019s alternative-protein push also began with S\u00e1nchez Bezos, who unveiled the first $60 million at Aspen Ideas: Climate in 2024. Rather than backing consumer brands, the fund committed nearly all of the eventual $100 million to university research aimed at making plant-based, cultivated and fermented proteins cheaper, better-tasting and easier to produce.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steer, then the Earth Fund\u2019s president and CEO, framed it as a way to slow the expected rise in meat production without asking everyone to give up meat. \u201cWe don\u2019t all need to become vegetarians,<\/a>\u201d he <\/span>said<\/span> at a 2024 Council on Foreign Relations event. The Good Food Institute <\/span>estimates<\/span> global meat demand could rise by more than 50 percent<\/a> by 2050.<\/span><\/p>\n

The commitment includes $30 million each for Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein at North Carolina State University, Imperial College London and the National University of Singapore, plus a $9.8 million grant to the Good Food Institute, which helped scope and select the centers. In Singapore, Professor Zhou Weibiao and other researchers are developing what the center calls \u201cultimate proteins,\u201d including through biomass fermentation that uses tofu-processing waste to feed microalgae.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Brazilian Amazon: $100 million awarded between 2023 and 2025<\/b><\/h3>\n

Since 2023, the Earth Fund has awarded $100 million across at least 30 grants in the Brazilian Amazon, betting that the rainforest stands a better chance when its residents can make a living from it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cristi\u00e1n Samper, the fund\u2019s nature lead and a former Wildlife Conservation Society CEO, <\/span>has described<\/span><\/a> the work as finding \u201calternative paths to prosperity\u201d for people living in the Amazon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the ground, that includes a $4.2 million grant supporting Cooperacre and SOS Amazonia. The cooperative is adding equipment and infrastructure to expand the sustainable production of rubber, fruits, nuts, oils, coffee and cacao harvested from protected reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along the Rio Negro, the Earth Fund is also backing FOIRN, the region\u2019s Indigenous federation, to strengthen land governance across 13.5 million hectares of forest, helping communities make collective decisions in a region threatened by logging, mining and other land clearing pressures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A broader $30.9 million package was awarded to Nia Tero, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Rainforest Trust and the Wildlife Conservation Society, working with local partners. Their projects range from strengthening Indigenous land governance to securing new protected and conserved areas.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A look at the major grants shaping Jeff Bezos\u2019s climate philanthropy, from species recovery and urban parks to sustainable protein.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":129757851,"featured_media":1689459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-08-27T16:38:44Z","apple_news_api_id":"b5860cf6-2bb2-40fb-ad06-9c78d3f7bce6","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-08-27T16:38:44Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AtYYM9iuyQPutBpx40_e85g","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_issue-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta__first-draft-date":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[424017191],"company":[423806837,424017612],"channel":[186,16897,423806427,423867838,423979973],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[596113,423949143,423981716,423981358,423924329,424018623,423958075,423979473,2493279,424018624,424018625,424018626],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthors":[424014214],"class_list":{"0":"post-1689458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-out-west-weekly-features","8":"observer_company-amazon","9":"observer_company-bezos-earth-fund","10":"channel-business","11":"channel-climate-change","12":"channel-finance","13":"channel-philanthropy","14":"channel-philanthropy-for-sustainability","15":"nyo_person-jeff-bezos","16":"nyo_person-lauren-sanchez","17":"nyo_person-andrew-steer","18":"nyo_person-tom-taylor","19":"nyo_person-leonardo-dicaprio","20":"nyo_person-wes-sechrest","21":"nyo_person-dax-dasilva","22":"nyo_person-todd-graves","23":"nyo_person-john-podesta","24":"nyo_person-alex-padilla","25":"nyo_person-zhou-weibiao","26":"nyo_person-cristian-samper"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/08\/bezos-earth-fund-donations\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1756152780-e1787845212592.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Beth Duckett","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Lauren