AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge

AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge — Phase II (Implementation)

Supports AI implementation teams addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and food insecurity globally.

Phase II of the Bezos Earth Fund's AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge awarded up to $2 million each to 15 global teams, for a total committed investment of $30 million, announced on October 23, 2025. The 15 awardees were drawn exclusively from Phase I grantees — organizations that had received $50,000 seed grants in May 2025 and successfully competed through a Virtual Innovation Sprint that included mentorship, teaming support, and detailed implementation plan submissions. The 15 projects span five continents and address three problem domains: biodiversity loss, climate change, and food insecurity, through AI applications that include coral reef monitoring systems and weather forecasting tools designed for African smallholder farmers.

Phase II grantees are implementing their solutions over approximately two years, from 2025 through 2027, with obligations to test, refine, and publicly report on outcomes. Each award is structured as a grant of up to $2 million; the $30 million total reflects the full 15-team pool at maximum award size. Lead applicants were required to be U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organizations or global academic institutions, with international collaboration and global project implementation permitted. For-profit entities and individual applicants were ineligible to serve as lead organizations.

Phase II is fully awarded and closed as of June 2026, with no open application process available. No Phase III round has been announced by the Bezos Earth Fund. Organizations working on AI for climate or nature applications who were not Phase I participants have no current pathway into this program; the fund's other grantmaking programs — including Future of Food, Conserving and Restoring Nature, and Decarbonizing Energy — remain active pathways for related work.