The Jeff Bezos Fund is looking to restore 100 million acres of land in Africa

The Jeff Bezos Fund is looking to restore more than 100 million acres of land in Africa that has been ravaged by degradation, deforestation and overuse.

Andrew Steer, the philanthropic organisation’s Chief Executive, made the announcement on Tuesday, October 4 ahead of next month’s COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

Steer said the fund is planning to restore the land by 2030 through the so-called AFR100 initiative, which is being led by some African Union countries.

Speaking at a Reuters conference last week Steer said: “African farmers are suffering appallingly from climate change,” adding that the goal would be to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and “better incomes for farmers, better food security, more resilient soils.”

Making reference to the growing demands from poor countries for the richer more polluting countries to pay for climate-induced disasters like floods and fires, Steer said: “Rich countries are going to have to play a bigger role on creating resilience on helping poor countries and poor citizens to adapt.”

The Jeff Bezos fund has so far pledged 30 per cent of its more than $10 billion (€10.01 billion) financial resources to restoration, nature conservation and the transformation of food systems.

To date, it has allocated a little over $1.5 billion (€1.501 billion) to these courses according to a fund spokesperson, with Bezos and his partner taking an active interest in the projects.

According to Steer the two meet with him monthly saying that Bezos is obsessive about results. He added the Amazon founder wants the fund to finance well-articulated ideas for combating climate change. He is apparently not interested in general issues or targets.

Bezos is one of a growing group of philanthropists who are giving their wealth to good causes, a trend started by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The news that the Jeff Bezos Fund is looking to restore 100 million acres of land in Africa comes in the same week that the future of the Amazon jungle makes centre page, as the two remaining candidates fight it out to be the country’s leader.

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