Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Commercial, Sourcing Renewables  -  September 19, 2019

Amazon targets early net zero, adds 100,000 EVs

Amazon committed to meet the Paris Agreement's target for net zero emissions across their business by 2040, a full 10 years earlier than the Paris Accord's 2050 goal.

The Climate Pledge was announced Sept. 19 alongside Global Optimism, a network of businesses working together under similar emissions targets. Other members of Global Optimism include The World Bank, Stanford University, ENI and Formula E, among others.

Those who signed The Climate Pledge have agreed to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis, implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement and neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent and socially-beneficial offsets to achieve net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

The primary decarbonization strategies outlined in the pledge include efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions and other carbon elimination strategies.

 "We’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference," Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, said in a statement. "If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon 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.”

Entities involved in The Climate Pledge hope that the agreement with stimulate market investment in the development of low carbon products and services.

To illustrate, Amazon also followed the announcement with one about the order of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, a producer of emissions-free vehicles that Amazon recently invested $440 million. The company hopes to have 10,000 of these vehicles delivering packages to customers by 2022 and the entire fleet in deployment by 2030, saving 4 million metric tons of carbons per year by 2030.

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