Jeff Bezos Announces $10B to Fight Climate Change: Buyers show Dissatisfaction for 'Unnecessary' Packaging

By Apac CIO Outlook | Wednesday, February 19, 2020

"Bought reusable straws in Hessian bags. Amazon delivers them in a vastly oversized box full of plastic. Environmentally friendly fail, Amazon! #amazonpackaging #singleuseplastic #pointlessplastic #ecosips #environmentmatters" one Amazon shopper wrote on Twitter

FREMONT, CA: Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon Inc., pledged $10 billion to fight climate change through an initiative named Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos said that the $10 billion would be used to fund the work done by scientists, NGOs, and activists, among others "to help preserve and protect the natural world."

"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," he wrote on Instagram. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share." The grants will be issued from this summer onward.

Though this is a great initiative towards climate change, some critics are slamming Amazon and Bezos on social media for not making changes closer to home first and reducing the amount of packaging used to send out Amazon parcels.

"I love @amazon but sometimes their excessive packaging makes me despair... #AmazonPackaging" wrote another.

"If #Bezos wants to do something for the world, he can start with his excessive packaging. Amazon shipping is the most wasteful of any retailer out there. Is junking up the world with plastics part of #BezosEarthFund?" another tweeted.

There were a number of instances when Amazon had been called out for using large amounts of packaging to send out small items. There are many posts documenting this habit in social media with the shoppers sharing images of giant boxes used to deliver a relatively small item.

More than 350 employees of Amazon signed a petition in January that called out the company's climate change practices and insisted Bezos to invest more money into fighting this cause rather than investing it toward his space exploration company.

"Amazon, the Earth is our only home. Spend more money on fighting Climate Change than on space exploration!" one Amazon employee wrote in the Medium post during the petition signing.

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