Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged some €1.73 billion to combat desertification in Africa. The American billionaire announced the funding, paid for by the Bezos Earth Fund, during a Cop26 event.

"We must conserve what we still have, we must restore what we have lost, and we must grow what we need to live without degrading the planet for future generations to come. Two thirds of Africa's land is degraded, but this can be reversed. Restoration can improve soil fertility, increase productivity and improve food security, make water more reliable, create jobs and boost economic growth while capturing carbon," Jeff Bezos stressed during an event dedicated to protecting and restoring forests and land.

The investment now announced is twice as much as originally planned, revealed in a Great Green Wall initiative that aims to plant more than 20 million trees by Africa to combat desertification. The change came for Bezos during his flight into space last July. "I was told that seeing the Earth from space changes the way we see the world. I wasn't prepared for how true that would be. Looking down from up there, the atmosphere seems so thin, the world so finite and so fragile. Now, in this critical year and this decisive decade, we must all together protect our world."

Bezos' contribution is part of a package of about €5.44 billion in private investment and public funding to the tune of €8.9 billion to support the declaration of 110 countries, covering 85% of the world's forests, to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.