Amazon and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have joined hands to commit a total of $53 million to help accelerate women-led climate tech innovation as a part of The Climate Pledge. The sum includes $3 million towards the USAID and $50 million for the Amazon contribution. The target of the pledge is to promote public-private partnerships to address the gender inequalities that plague women in the climate finance ecosystem, and to support women tech innovators and entrepreneurs with the resources they need to accelerate climate change innovations.
Amazon will also serve as a founding partner for USAID’s Climate Gender Equity Fund, a new climate finance facility focused on women and girls getting better representation and access to climate finance. The fund will have a global focus and provide funding for businesses, NGOs, accelerators, incubators and grassroots organisations working on women-led climate solutions. It will also highlight the need to accelerate and upskill climate change technologies.
“As an important step in solving climate change, we must address the gender inequalities that persist in climate finance, and ensure female entrepreneurs have an equal seat at the table and access to the funding, networks, and technical support they need to scale climate solutions,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon. “We’re proud to collaborate with USAID and the Biden administration to help scale women-led climate solutions globally. This is just one part of our broader Climate Pledge goal to reach net zero carbon by 2040, and we encourage other companies to join us in this effort.”
*Image used for representative purpose.