Acknowledging that climate change is real, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos on Wednesday said that there was a need for urgent actions on the issue as "there are no other good planets in the solar system" and "we need to take care of this one". Bezos said that those refusing to acknowledge that climate change is real are not being reasonable.
The Amazon founder was speaking at an event organised to connect with small business owners in India. Bezos, who is on a three-day India visit to review and plan Amazon's operations in the country, is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per sources. However, the meeting has not been finalised yet, they added.
Bezos, who arrived in India on Tuesday, kicked-off the event called ‘Amazon SMBhav’ to address small and medium businesses on Wednesday in Delhi. The two-day event will be attended by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani and Piyush Pandey, chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairman of India, Ogilvy.
Talking about climate change during the event, Bezos said that he expects all polluting industries to "move outside of the Earth" in the long run.
He urged small companies to do their bit for climate change. "Big companies doing something for climate change can be a needle changer, which will impact the supply chain as well," added Bezos.
Here are the 10 key highlights of what Bezos said on climate change:
Bezos said that it is going to take collective action all over the world to make progress on an issue like climate change.
"There were people who just did not acknowledge that climate change is real. Anybody today who is not acknowledging that climate change is real, that we humans are affecting this planet in a very significant and dangerous way, those people are not being reasonable," said Bezos.
Bezos said that Amazon is committed to complying with caps agreed in Paris Climate Accord 10 years earlier.
He said that the company will eliminate plastic use in deliveries completely in India by June 2020.
According to Bezos, Amazon will be 100 percent sustainable electricity user by 2030.
Bezos urged the small businesses to do their bit towards making progress in fighting climate change.
"When a large company like Amazon with 700,000 employees and a big global footprint, when we do something like the Climate Pledge, it can be a needle-mover because it is not just Amazon, it is our supply chain," said Bezos.
Bezos said that Amazon is also working with other CEOs around the world to get them to do similar things.
"I am very excited about it. It is going to take big companies, small companies, individuals doing the right things, it is going to take nations doing the right things," added Bezos.
"We only have one planet, we all share it, there is only one atmosphere, we all share it, there is only a set of oceans, we all share them. This is something that requires action and people will come together around a goal like this, it is going to happen," he hopes.
First Published:Jan 15, 2020 12:53 PM IST