Amazon to Invest $15 Billion in APAC Region to Support Climate Change Initiatives

Amazon has announced a $15 million investment in nature-based projects in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region to support communities, climate resilience, and biodiversity. The first $3 million will be invested by the company from the fund's APAC allocation to support nature-based projects in India. 

Amazon will collaborate with the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) to help communities and conservation efforts in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to more than 30% of all wildlife species in India, including the world's largest population of wild Asiatic elephants and tigers.

Amazon's funding of $1 million will help CWS establish the “Wild Carbon” program, which will support 10,000 farmers in planting and maintaining one million fruit-bearing, timber and medicinal trees. "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," Kara Hurst, Amazon's Global VP for Sustainability, said in a statement. Amazon's direct contribution will allow CWS to partner with 2,000 family farms and plant 3,00,000 trees over three years.

CWS will also use project funds to create cutting-edge monitoring systems that use drone and remote sensing technology, as well as on-the-ground surveys, to verify programme outcomes, advancing research on farmers' potential positive impact on reforestation opportunities.