Ecommerce major Amazon on Monday (September 4) said it will invest $15 Mn to support nature-based projects in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The investment will be drawn out of Amazon’s $100 Mn Right Now Climate Fund created in 2019.
The climate fund was created to support nature conservation and restoration projects while driving benefits for communities.
Out of the $15 Mn allocation for APAC, Amazon said the first phase of the project will focus on India with an investment of $3 Mn. For this phase, the US-based company will partner with the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) to support communities and conservation efforts in the Western Ghats. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to more than 30% of all of India’s wildlife species, including the world’s largest population of wild Asiatic elephants and tigers.
Under this programme, Amazon’s funding will enable the CWS to establish the “Wild Carbon” programme, which will support 10,000 farmers in plantation and maintenance of 1 Mn fruit-bearing, timber and medicinal trees, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the initiative, Kara Hurst, Amazon’s Global VP for Sustainability, said, “The Asia-Pacific region is home to vast forests and rich coastal environments, but it is also highly vulnerable to climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. To protect the region from the impacts of climate change and preserve biodiversity, we will need both large-scale and local action – and we’re committed to investing in both.”
With climate change emerging as a major threat to the world, a large number of companies across the globe have been allocating capital for sustainability.
The latest funding for the APAC region is part of Amazon’s broader efforts for decarbonisation. In 2019, the ecommerce behemoth cofounded The Climate Pledge, committing to reach net zero carbon emission by 2040. Nine Indian companies – BluPine Energy, CSM Technologies India, Godi, Greenko, HCL, Infosys, Mahindra Logistics, Tech Mahindra, and UPL – have also signed the pledge.
Last year, Amazon also launched six utility-scale projects in India with an aim to power its global operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. The projects included three wind-solar hybrid projects in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and three solar farms in Rajasthan, with an overall renewable energy capacity of 920 megawatts. Amazon India is also targeting having 10,000 electric vehicles in its delivery fleet by 2025.
The latest development comes at a time when India has emerged as an important market for global companies, including Apple, Tesla, and Amazon. Recently, following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that the ecommerce giant would invest $15 Bn more in India over the next seven years. With this, the total investment of the firm in India will touch $26 Bn.
Further, Amazon also said that it plans cumulative ecommerce exports of $20 Bn from India by 2025. It also aims to digitise 10 Mn small businesses and create 2 Mn jobs in India.
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