The Bezos Earth Fund has announced grants totaling $443 million in support of nonprofits working to advance climate justice, nature conservation and restoration, and the tracking of critical climate goals.

The funding includes $261 million to further the 30x30 initiative to protect 30 percent of land and sea globally by 2030; $130 million to advance the Justice40 initiative, a U.S. government effort to deliver at least 40 percent of the benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities; $51 million in support of land restoration in the United States and Africa; and $1.5 million in support of tracking and monitoring efforts.

Grants in support of the 30x30 initiative will drive the creation, expansion, management, and monitoring of protected and conserved areas and advance the land tenure rights of Indigenous peoples as well as the role of local communities and organizations in conservation, with a focus on the Congo Basin and Tropical Andes. The fund awarded eight grants totaling $105.05 million to help create more than eleven million hectares of new protected areas in the Congo Basin, including the rights to 5 million hectares of land for local communities; the region encompasses 70 percent of Africa’s forests and is critical for biodiversity and carbon stocks on the planet. Eleven grants totaling $151.05 million were awarded to create more than forty-eight million hectares of newly protected areas, including nineteen million hectares of lands for local communities, in the Tropical Andes, home to more than 12 percent of all species and a diversity of Indigenous cultures. Recipients include the Nature Conservancy’s Enduring Earth collaborative ($30 million) and Re:wild ($25 million).

Funding for the Justice40 initiative targets four areas: five grants totaling $14 million in support of a data collaborative to inform decision making; five grants totaling $47 million to enable underserved communities to become environmentally safe, climate-resilient areas with economic opportunities; five grants totaling $38 millionto help Native American communities access Justice40 funding for clean energy and climate-resilient development; and four grants totaling $31 million in support of training and resource sharing to advance coordinated Justice40 implementation. Recipients include the Massive Data Institute at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy ($3.2 million), the Greenlining Institute ($10 million), GRID Alternatives’ Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund ($12 million), and Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs’ Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice program ($15 million).

“Support from the Bezos Earth Fund allows us to help Indigenous communities across the United States secure funding for projects that advance climate and environmental justice, benefit their communities, and offer models of success,” said Tanksi Clairmont, director of GRID Alternatives’ Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund. “In so doing, we are also cultivating the next generation of tribal leaders committed to climate and nature solutions. We are grateful for the opportunity to advance energy sovereignty and climate resilience in tribal communities.”

As part of a $1 billion commitment announced at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November, the fund awarded three grants totaling $51 million in support of efforts to restore degraded landscapes, including the implementation of urban forestry and the ramp-up of restoration in twenty U.S. sites and supporting nonprofits and small and midsize enterprises working to restore land in Africa. Recipients include Groundwork USA ($6 million), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($30 million), and One Tree Planted ($15 million).

In support of efforts to track sectoral transitions related to energy, buildings, industry, and transport, and transformations related to protecting biodiversity, the fund awarded $1.2 million to the ClimateWorks Foundation, which will work with Climate Action Tracker, and $320,000 to the United Nations Foundation, which will partner with the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

For a complete list of grant recipients, see the Bezos Earth Fund website.