Jeff Bezos’s Earth Fund announced a $25 million grant on September 17 to protect over 625,000 square miles of ocean across Pacific nations including the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Vanuatu. This funding is part of the fund’s $100 million Pacific pledge made in 2023, aimed at sustainably managing the region’s waters and protecting at least 30% of it by 2030, according to fortune.com.
The $25 million is the second round of grants under the Pacific pledge, following an initial $37.5 million awarded in 2025. Together, these grants total $63.3 million so far. The initiative is led by Lauren Sánchez Bezos, vice chair of the Earth Fund and wife of Jeff Bezos since June 2025. She has played a prominent role in the fund’s philanthropy, including announcing the first Pacific grants and a $30 million AI Grand Challenge supporting climate-related innovations, per fortune.com.
The Bezos Earth Fund was launched in 2020 with a $10 billion commitment to fight climate change through 2030. To date, it has granted about $2.4 billion, leaving over $7 billion to be spent in the next four years. The Pacific grants focus on protecting marine biodiversity and supporting sustainable ocean management in a region larger than Alaska, underscoring the fund’s broader environmental goals, according to fortune.com.
The fund’s next major milestone is the continued allocation of its remaining $7 billion by 2030. The Pacific grants contribute to the goal of protecting 30% of the region’s waters by that year, a target aligned with international conservation efforts and the fund’s strategic priorities, as detailed by fortune.com.