As part of its commitment to the newly formed Climate Pledge, Amazon is targeting 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030 on its path to net-zero carbon by 2040.
To date, Amazon has launched 15 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects, generating over 1.3 GW of renewable capacity and delivering more than 3.8 million MWh of clean energy annually – enough to power 368,000 U.S. homes, the e-retail giant says. Amazon has also installed more than 50 solar rooftops on fulfillment centers and sort centers around the globe, generating 98 MW of renewable capacity and delivering 130,000 MWh of clean energy annually.
Amazon and Global Optimism are co-founding The Climate Pledge, which calls on signatories to be net-zero carbon across their businesses by 2040 – a decade ahead of the Paris Accord’s goal of 2050.
Companies that sign The Climate Pledge agree to the following commitments:
- Measure and report greenhouse-gas emissions on a regular basis;
- Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies; and
- Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.
“We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue; we’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference,” says Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO. “If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon, which delivers more than 10 billion items a year, can meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early, then any company can. I’ve been talking with other CEOs of global companies, and I’m finding a lot of interest in joining the pledge. Large companies signing The Climate Pledge will send an important signal to the market that it’s time to invest in the products and services the signatories will need to meet their commitments.”
“Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low carbon economy,” adds Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief and founding partner of Global Optimism. “With this step, Amazon also helps many other companies to accelerate their own decarbonization. If Amazon can set ambitious goals like this and make significant changes at their scale, we think many more companies should be able to do the same and will accept the challenge. We are excited to have others join.”
Amazon has also launched a new sustainability website to report on its commitments, initiatives and performance. The site includes information on Amazon’s carbon footprint and other sustainability metrics that share progress the company is making toward reaching The Climate Pledge.
In other sustainability initiatives, Amazon is launching the Right Now Climate Fund, committing $100 million to restore and protect forests, wetlands and peatlands around the world in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. Amazon has also announced an order for 100,000 electric delivery vehicles with U.S.-based manufacturer Rivian.
