Jun 24, 2025
Billionaire Bought 400K Acres to Save the Amazon
Growing up in Stockholm, he saw ski seasons shrink due to warming—sparking his passion for climate action
In 2005, Eliasch bought 400,000 acres of Amazon rainforest—not to exploit it, but to shield it from logging
He promptly closed down unsustainable logging operations on the land, preserving its ecological richness
That same year, he founded the Rainforest Trust, an NGO now protecting over 37 million acres of tropical forest
In 2006–07, he co-founded Cool Earth, supporting indigenous communities to guard their forests
Appointed by UK PM Gordon Brown in 2007, he authored the influential Eliasch Review, shaping UK climate policy on deforestation
As president of the International Ski Federation since 2021, he launched the FIS Rainforest Initiative to offset event emissions and joined the Race to Zero
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