$10 Billion can’t wean the world off fossil fuels, but it can prevent a “doomsday dieback” of the Amazon rainforest. In fact, restoring the Amazon could be the most significant action we can take on climate change today.

The problem

Deforestation is pushing the Amazon to a critical tipping point that could dramatically disrupt the global climate. In December, Carlos Nobre and Thomas Lovejoy wrote: 

“We are scientists who have been studying the Amazon and all its wondrous assets for many decades. Today, we stand exactly in a moment of destiny: The tipping point is here, it is now.”  

Passing that tipping point means “an irreversible shift to a hotter world.” Amazonia is already absorbing 30% less CO2 than it did 30 years ago. Rates of forest destruction have increased rapidly over the last two years. If deforestation continues, the rainforest could experience a dieback that would quickly release up to 140 billion tons of stored carbon. 

Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, says that losing the Amazon rainforest, “...would be absolutely catastrophic to the Earth’s carbon cycle, water cycle, climate, and biodiversity—not to mention the people who live there.”

According to the New York Times, even Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com) is alarmed by the speed of the climate crisis: 

“Bezos said Earth’s climate was changing faster than predicted by the scientific community five years ago. ‘Those predictions were bad, but what is actually happening is dire,’ he said.” 

Our demand

According to scientists Nobre and Lovejoy, “The peoples and leaders of the Amazon countries together have the power, the science, and the tools to avoid a continental-scale, indeed, a global environmental disaster.” An immediate, multi-billion dollar investment in restoring the Amazon rainforest would prevent a catastrophic release of carbon and loss of biodiversity, and create a model for preserving critical ecosystems around the planet.

Many of us are Amazon.com customers, and we appreciate efforts like The Bezos Earth Fund and The Climate Pledge. However, the deforestation crisis in the Amazon basin is extremely urgent, and we want you to address it immediately. You chose the Amazon name, so we choose you to step up and commit to saving the Amazon rainforest NOW!

Learn more at Amazon4Amazon.org.