So much for smooth sailing.
Jeff Bezos – who has pledged to spend billions of dollars to help fight climate change – yet owns a massive $500 million yacht that generates thousands of tons of carbon emissions each year, according to a new analysis by Indiana University researchers.
Amazon’s 417-foot sailing yacht “Koru,” produces at least 7,154 tons of greenhouse gases each year — about 447 times the entire annual carbon footprint of your average American, Indiana researchers found.
The findings, based on publicly available data, come as the world’s third-richest man has committed to spending $10 billion over 10 years through the Bezos Earth Fund to combat the effects of climate change.
To date, the fund has donated $1.84 billion, including for nature conservation and restoration, and transforming the food system.
Koru and her support vessel, Abeona, were the first yachts Bezos bought, according to the Nautical Channel.
Koru produces at least 7,154 tons of carbon emissions per year, according to Indiana University researchers.Pedro / SplashNews.com
Billionaires like Bezos, whose net worth is about $161 billion, “are invested in issues like climate change and carbon emissions, and publicly, they’re very vocal about it,” said Indiana anthropology PhD candidate Beatriz Barros, who analyzed the ship’s emissions. with anthropologist Richard Wilk.
“But because they’re so rich and powerful, they feel like they’re entitled [to travel in carbon-producing superyachts]while you and I should drive less, eat less meat,” he said.
Boat industry experts have raved about Koru’s “green” ability to travel on wind power, but Barros sniffs that Bezos’ three-masted goliath generates a lot of greenhouse gases just by heating and cooling the ship and powering the various vessels aboard. luxury facilities such as its sauna, swimming pool and theater.
Bezos’ new yacht generates greenhouse gases by powering its luxury amenities including a sauna, theater and swimming pool.AbacaPress / SplashNews.com
“I don’t see how, how in any way this can be considered environmentally friendly,” said Barros, whose findings with Wilk were first reported by The Guardian.
The superyacht, which was built by Netherlands-based Oceanco and made its maiden voyage in April, comes with the 246-foot Abeona, which is decked out with jet skis and a helicopter pad to house Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez’s personal helicopter.
Barros and Wilk’s analysis does not include sister boat emissions.
Koru was built by Netherlands-based Oceanco and sailed on its maiden voyage in April.AbacaPress / SplashNews.com
Bezos’ wealth shields him from the effects of the environmental crisis, said Dario Kenner, author of “Carbon Inequality: The Role of the Richest in Climate Change.”
“There’s an emotional and physical disconnect from the rich conditions and climate change,” Kenner said.
“The poorest people live closest to toxic air facilities, refineries, pollution dumps,” he said, explaining that land is cheaper in those areas.
Despite pledging billions of dollars to fight climate change, Bezo left a huge and environmentally unfriendly carbon footprint.Getty Images
“If you’re rich, you rarely come into contact with environmental disaster zones – you’re more protected from extreme weather, from air pollution.”
The Koru release isn’t the only rough sea Bezos has faced in recent years for his environmental honesty.
In 2021, online critics mocked Bezos for reportedly traveling by helicopter to party on Bill Gates’ superyacht — just days before attending the COP26 climate summit in Scotland via private jet.
A spokesperson for Bezos told Observer.com at the time that the billionaire uses sustainable aviation fuel for his trips and pays for carbon offsets, which fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas pollution and cancel the carbon emissions produced by the trips.
The previous year, hundreds of Amazon workers ripped the company over its ongoing contracts with oil and gas companies, months after CEO Bezos pledged to bring the online retail giant’s operations to zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.
Bezos and the Bezos Earth Fund did not respond to requests for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
