The CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos is pledging $10 billion to tackle climate change.

The funds will be allocated so scientists, activists, non-profit organisations and other environmental protection groups to offset the impact of climate change.

Reducing emissions will be no easy feat for Amazon. The e-commerce giant delivers around 10 billion items every year, possesses a huge transportation and data centre footprint and has been criticised by its own staff, Reuters reports.

The CEO, the world’s richest man, joins a growing list of billionaires pledging funds to fight the effects of global warming.

Bezos said on Instagram: “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.”

Grants will be issued within months from the Bezos Earth Fund, says Sky News.

The CEO went on to add: “It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.

"Earth is the one thing we all have in common - let's protect it, together."

In 2019, Bezos announced Amazon would be carbon neutral by 2040, becoming the first major corporation to set such a target. The online retailer also announced it would purchase 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian Automotive LLC, a U.S. vehicle design and manufacturing startup.

Furthermore, the Amazon CEO stated his organisation would meet the targets of the Paris climate accord a decade of schedule and invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.

Amazon has been faced with protests by environmental activists and pressure from its workforce to take steps to tackle climate change.

Employees of the e-commerce giant joined staff from other major tech firms in climate-change marches in San Francisco and Seattle at the end of last year, stating the companies needed to adopt a more drastic stance in relation to fighting the effects of global warming.

Activist workers group, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice tweeted: “We applaud Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away.”

Read the latest news update: General Motors to “wind down” sales in Australia and New Zealand