The announcement comes ahead of what could be the world’s biggest climate-change protest today. The news: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday pledged to build or buy enough renewable power to supply 80% of the company’s electricity needs by 2024 and 100% by 2030. By 2040, the retail giant plans to cut or offset the carbon emissions across all its operations.  The response: The plan was generally met with praise but, as ever, the devil is in the details. Some of it seems to amount to climate accounting: investing in solar and wind power elsewhere to offset the portion of fossil fuel generated electricity they’re actually using. The company’s own climate activist employee group, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, trumpeted the pledge as a “huge win,” but said it didn’t go far enough.  Not alone: Google also got in on the act, pledging to invest more than $2 billion in new energy infrastructure like wind turbines and solar panels. Read the full story here.

New York City has big plans—and $20 billion—to save itself from climate change Well-hidden sea walls, white rooftops, and community programs to monitor for signs of heat illnesses are all part of the strategy for helping the Big Apple cope with global warming. Money talks: New York City’s mayor’s office is spending $20 billion to make needed changes to the city’s built environment—and its sense of community, Jainey Bavishi, director of the NYC mayor’s office of recovery and resiliency said at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference yesterday. The hope: These changes should help New York to cope with the dangerous effects of climate change in coming years. For example, the city has already coated 10 million square feet of rooftops in white paint, helping to cut energy bills and reduce the risk of deaths during heatwaves. Read the full story here.