Conservation International Honors The Bezos Earth Fund’s $10 Billion Pledge to Protect the Planet
Welcoming guests to one of her favorite rooms in New York City, The Pool at Midtown Manhattan’s storied Seagram Building, Lauren Santo Domingo told attendees, “Jeff Bezos knows that behind every great man, is a woman…named Lauren.”
LSD, the ever-stylish supporter of Conservation International and this year’s gala host alongside her husband Andrés, whose family has a decades-long history championing the organization, was on hand to usher in the evening’s program. The galvanizing lineup brought together not only Bezos and his aforementioned right hand, his partner Lauren Sánchez, who both spoke about their planet-saving efforts through the Bezos Earth Fund, but Harrison Ford, Dame Jacinda Arden, and Shailene Woodley too; all of whom delivered rousing calls to action to an audience full of people with real power to enact change.
For its first gala dinner since the pandemic, Conservation International honored Bezos, the Founder and Executive Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, and Sánchez, the Fund’s Vice Chair, with the Global Visionary Award. The accolade, past recipients of which have included former President Bill Clinton and President Joe Biden, acknowledges that the Bezos Earth Fund is the largest philanthropic commitment ever made to tackle pressing nature issues. By 2030, the Fund will distribute $10 billion to fight climate change and biodiversity loss. To date, over $2 billion has already been allocated to grantee partners, and change-making landmark agreements have been made with governments worldwide to safeguard 30% of the planet s land and sea by 2030.
Actor Harrison Ford, Vice Chair of Conservation International, has been involved with the non-profit for some four decades, having found his calling in the peak of his Star Wars fame and success to join them in their ambitious efforts. Ford took to the stage with Bezos and Sánchez to lead a discussion on how we get wind in our sails when it comes to tackling pervasive problems.
“[Humans] really value beauty, art, and poetry, and nature is all of those things,” Bezos said. “That piece of us that values that, will cause us to come together. There are thousands of people coming up with innovations. We’re not moving backward to a pre-industrial society. We have to live in a world of abundance and we have to choose both: we are going to move forward in a world of abundance, and we are going to protect nature.”
Hope was a recurring theme throughout the evening. On a national level, Sánchez spoke about the Bezos Earth Fund’s recent Greening America’s Cities initiative; a $400 million commitment to enhancing green spaces in underserved urban areas. As well as fostering community, it’s a move to make sure children can access parks and playgrounds, ultimately nurturing their own desire to prioritize nature and protect the planet.
