Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez meet with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in New York
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Isobel Asher Hamilton
Sep 21, 2021, 16:08 IST
Boris Johnson (left) met with Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez while in New York.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in New York on Monday.
Bezos discussed climate change and taxation with Johnson, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Bezos said on Monday he would donate $1 billion to conservation efforts this year.
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sat down with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in New York on Monday, after Johnson flew to the city for the UN General Assembly.
Bezos posted a photo of the meeting on his Instagram account. His girlfriend Lauren Sanchez also attended.
A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos)
Bezos said he and Johnson discussed climate change.
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"Good exchange of ideas on climate change with a lot of passion around preserving and restoring the natural world," Bezos said on Instagram.
A spokesperson for the prime minister's office at Number 10 Downing Street also said the pair discussed climate change, as well as taxation.
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They talked about the upcoming COP26 summit - the United Nations Climate Change Conference due to be held in Glasgow, UK next month - and "agreed that there was an urgent need to mobilise more public and private money to help developing countries protect biodiversity, including through the LEAF Coalition," the spokesperson said. The LEAF Coalition is a charity fund aimed at protecting tropical forests.
"The Prime Minister and Mr Bezos agreed to work together to see what more could be done in the run up to and at COP26," the spokesperson said.
The Downing Street spokesperson added that Johnson brought up taxation with Bezos, and "hoped progress could be in implementing the G7 agreement on tax."
The G7 countries in June agreed a proposal that would mean big multinational companies, such as Amazon, pay at least 15% tax in every country they operate in.
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Amazon's total UK revenues totalled £20.6 billion ($28.2 billion) in 2020, and it paid £18.3 million ($25 million) in UK corporation tax.
In Bezos' Instagram post, the billionaire said the pair also discussed the work of sci-fi authors Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.
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