Like its closest rivals in synthetic intelligence and cloud computing, Amazon’s greenhouse gasoline emissions rose in its newest ESG reporting replace. And like Microsoft and Google, the corporate is dedicated to its current objective, which commits it to turning into internet zero by 2040 by way of the Local weather Pledge framework it co-created in 2019.
Amazon’s sustainability chief, Kara Hurst, factors to investments in local weather applied sciences resembling Rivian’s electrical supply vans, Amazon’s expansive purchases of unpolluted vitality and the joint motion it’s mobilizing with the 549 different signatories (as of Dec. 31, 2024) within the Local weather Pledge as causes to stay “agency” even when progress is lower than linear.
“It doesn’t matter what we’re confronted with sooner or later, we’ll stay steadfast in our dedication to sustainability and proceed to take a position, innovate and obsess over our progress every year, with the identical depth and focus that has outlined Amazon from Day One,” she mentioned in Amazon’s 2024 sustainability report.
Watch this metric: carbon depth
Amazon’s emissions have grown 34.4 p.c since its 2019 baseline 12 months, to 68.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equal for 2024. For comparability, of their most up-to-date environmental replace from earlier this summer season, Google disclosed a cumulative emissions enhance of 51 p.c, to fifteen.2 million metric tons since its 2019 baseline, whereas Microsoft recorded a 24.3 p.c enhance since 2020, to 14.9 million metric tons.
As its emissions totals illustrate, the magnitude of Amazon’s e-commerce operations — greater than 10 billion gadgets delivered inside 48 hours in 2024 — add a complexity to the Seattle firm’s net-zero pledge that neither Microsoft nor Google faces. Scope 3 emissions from the corporate’s provide chain are about 74 p.c of the overall.
Amazon doesn’t get away the carbon footprint related to knowledge facilities that energy Amazon Net Companies. It does, nevertheless, carefully monitor one other metric, carbon depth, which measures grams of CO2 equal per greenback of merchandise gross sales. For 2024, that quantity was 72.6 grams, off 40.9 p.c — from 122.8 grams — in 2019. Throughout that timeframe, Amazon’s whole income greater than doubled to $638 billion.
Focused Local weather Pledge recruitment
Amazon research carbon depth so it may gauge the effectiveness of investments and effectivity measures throughout its provide chain. As 2040 attracts nearer, the corporate’s sustainability workforce is trying to collaborations between Amazon and different signatories to the Local weather Pledge, particularly massive suppliers, to scale that work.
“We’re closely encouraging our suppliers, particularly our top-emitting suppliers to hitch us within the Local weather Pledge,” mentioned Sally Fouts, Amazon’s director of the Local weather Pledge. “And if they’ll’t decide to the pledge, we nonetheless work with these firms in different methods.”
In 2024, 76 firms joined the pledge — a mean 12 months for brand new signatories, mentioned Fouts. Two had been Amazon’s high-emitting suppliers, Crane Worldwide Logistics and Shorr Packaging. There was additionally a particular push to recruit companies from Asia Pacific and the high-emitting trend business; amongst these to take the leap: denims maker DL1961 and designer Stella McCartney.
“Our determination to hitch the Local weather Pledge displays our deep dedication to daring, science-based targets,” mentioned DL1961 CEO Sarah Ahmed. The corporate already carefully tracks the carbon footprint of its denims, and it makes use of waterless processes and recycled materials or these harvested from natural and regenerative sources to drive down emissions. Its objective is to chop its footprint in half by 2030.
Rising precedence: collective motion
Amazon is recruiting in particular provider classes with the intention of making working teams that may share finest practices or collaborate on particular initiatives. Six initiatives had been launched in 2024, involving 16 signatories, making a complete of 19 initiatives up and working, Fouts mentioned, together with a couple of centered on one in all Amazon’s largest emissions classes, transportation and logistics.
One instance is Laneshift, created to speed up the set up of electrical car charging infrastructure in cities all through Brazil, India and Mexico. A number of Local weather Pledge firms are supporting a 370-kilometer EV freight hall in India between Bengaluru and Chennai. One other is Joule, which is constructing a charging community throughout Bengaluru and matching the electrical energy consumption with renewables.
“If we will get these firms which have a vested curiosity and should play a unique position in that ecosystem of getting that community off the bottom, then we will hopefully transfer quicker,” mentioned Fouts.
Amazon has deployed greater than 10,000 EVs in India, on the best way to realizing a bigger aspiration of placing no less than 100,000 electrical supply vans on the highway worldwide by 2030. It had deployed 31,400 as of Dec. 31, and delivered greater than 1.5 billion packages in 2024 utilizing electrical autos.
Brooks Operating, among the many first 40 firms to turn into a Local weather Pledge signatory in 2020, advantages from these collaborations, mentioned Dave Kemp, director of company accountability for the footwear maker.
Brooks’ involvement with the Local weather Pledge has enabled it to take part in contracts that decreased emissions associated to aviation and maritime delivery and that enabled renewable vitality investments in its provide chain. “It helped unlock partnerships and collaboration we wouldn’t have considered or had entry to,” Kemp mentioned.
Branding blitz
Amazon can also be relying on its Local weather Pledge Pleasant labeling program — which sellers can use to market merchandise coated by greater than 60 eco-certifications — to make a dent in its Scope 3 emissions. Amazon carried greater than 2.2 million Local weather Pledge Pleasant merchandise in 2024, in contrast with 250,000 in 2021, when this system started.
In 2024, Amazon prospects bought greater than 1.7 billion merchandise carrying the label, a rise of 48 p.c from 2023. That features 75,200 companies that use Amazon for procurement, up from 18,000 in 2022.
One other knowledge level Amazon touts in its 2024 report: 38.8 million prospects switched to Local weather Pledge Pleasant manufacturers in 2024 after shopping for different choices in the identical class within the earlier two years.
Wanting ahead, Amazon is encouraging extra sellers to qualify merchandise below the labeling program. It’s additionally stepping up its assist of these promoting preowned or refurbished merchandise, mentioned Cameron Westfall, head of product and engineering for the Local weather Pledge Pleasant program.
“One of many issues that we’re tremendous enthusiastic about is that getting Local weather Pledge Pleasant is extra impactful for these manufacturers which can be much less discoverable on their very own,” Westfall mentioned. “So small companies find yourself being a few of the largest beneficiaries of investing in sustainability.”
The Local weather Pledge Pleasant idea will also be utilized to supply and packaging choices that floor in the course of the checkout course of. “We’re beginning to embed that extra, and also you’ll begin seeing it extra on the positioning,” Westfall mentioned.
