E-commerce giant Amazon has pledged €3.75 million (£3.3m) to the charitable trust Nature Conservancy (TNC) to mitigate climate change and enhance biodiversity in three German cities.

The five-year-long Urban Greening Program by TNC will commence in Berlin before being replicated in other German cities and across Europe.

Under the project, local community organisations and governments will work together to reduce flood risk, decrease heat and pollution by planting more trees and improving urban water bodies.

The project will also increase urban biodiversity by introducing pollinator-friendly plants and urban grasslands.

Dr Ulrich Heink, Director of the Department of Nature Conservation for Berlin-Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district, said: “The people of Berlin are experiencing climate change first-hand – with urban floods and extreme heat events in the past years. The nature-based climate solutions in this urban greening programme will help to reduce these impacts while at the same time increase biodiversity and citizen well-being.”

The project forms part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge, aimed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, a decade before the Paris Climate Agreement deadline.