RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Amazon announced on Thursday (2) that it intends to invest in carbon removal projects in the Amazon rainforest. In partnership with the NGO The Nature Conservancy, the online commerce giant promised to restore forest areas and create more sustainable sources of income for small farmers in Pará.
According to the company, the first round of investments will support 3,000 small farmers and revitalize 20,000 hectares (roughly 77 square miles) of forest in three years. According to the company’s calculations, the efforts should remove 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2050.
The initiative has been dubbed the “Agroforestry Restoration Accelerator” and will finance sustainable income sources for farmers through the sale of cocoa and other crops.
“Restoring the world’s forests is one of the most significant actions we can take now to address climate change and will require innovative solutions to succeed,” said Amazon’s vice president of global sustainability, Kara Hurst.