As part of its efforts to support global solutions to the climate crisis, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced the launch of the Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental organization. The Accelerator will create a more sustainable source of income for thousands of local farmers in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará, while also restoring native rainforests and fighting climate change by naturally trapping and storing carbon.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, nature-based solutions have a critical role to play in avoiding the worst effects of climate change. Governments and the private sector can both reduce carbon emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere by investing in nature-based solutions at scale. The Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator is one such carbon removal project, and part of Amazon’s commitment to meeting The Climate Pledge, which the company co-founded with Global Optimism. Signatories to the Pledge commit to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
As part of its commitment to meet The Climate Pledge, Amazon is first and foremost continuing to innovate and invest in decarbonizing its businesses. The company has purchased 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, and is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world. Amazon is also investing in nature-based solutions outside of its value chain through the Right Now Climate Fund, which supports the Accelerator and other projects to restore degraded lands in ways that improve the livelihoods of local communities and remove carbon from the atmosphere. Additionally, through the recently announced LEAF Coalition—a public-private initiative to mobilize at least $1 billion to protect the world’s tropical forests—Amazon and other partners are working to curb tropical deforestation, reducing the amount of carbon emitted in the atmosphere.
“Restoring the world’s forests is one of the most meaningful actions we can take right now to address climate change, and it will require innovative solutions to be successful,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon. “We are proud to launch the Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy to support solutions that prioritize high environmental integrity and strong community benefits. Amazon is looking forward to contributing our passion for innovation along with financial support to improve the livelihoods of local communities in Brazil, while helping to protect the planet for future generations.”
“Science is unequivocal in regarding natural systems as the priority for absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and the latest IPCC report underscores this,” said Christiana Figueres, co-founder of Global Optimism and former UN climate chief responsible for the Paris Agreement. “Protecting standing ecosystems and restoring degraded land are critical as carbon mitigation strategies, especially over the next decade or two. Projects that achieve this to sustain both nature and the livelihoods of the local community are invaluable to the transformation needed to thrive well beyond the climate crisis. Kudos to Amazon and The Nature Conservancy.”
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