We have published our 2020 sustainability report to detail Amazon’s continued commitment to building a sustainable business for customers and the planet. The report, “Further and Faster, Together,” also shows Amazon's work in support of The Climate Pledge, a commitment co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism that calls on signatories to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
We know that addressing the global crisis of climate change will take a combination of big, bold commitments and everyday actions. We also know that these commitments and actions have the power to help stave off crisis and to create a more beautiful, livable, and breathable planet, with better jobs and increased economic development for all.
We're starting with actions within our own company and then extending those innovations to our customers, suppliers, vendors, and sellers, ultimately driving positive change across our value chains.
Amazon's latest sustainability report details our continued path to decarbonization as we advance our commitment to The Climate Pledge.
Key progress highlights
- Became the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. We reached 65% renewable energy across the business in 2020, up from 42% in 2019. Amazon is on an accelerated path to power global operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of our original 2030 target. As of June 2021, Amazon has a total of 232 wind and solar projects around the world with 10 gigawatts of electricity production capacity—enough to power 2.5 million U.S. homes.
- Continued to electrify our delivery vehicles and transportation network. Following our order of 100,000 electric vehicles from Rivian in 2019, we rolled out the first vehicles in Los Angeles in February 2021 and will expand to neighborhoods in up to 15 additional U.S. cities by the end of 2021. We plan to have 10,000 vehicles on the road as early as 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles deployed by 2030. To date, Amazon has delivered more than 20 million packages to customers in electric delivery vehicles across North America and Europe.
- Celebrated 100 companies joining The Climate Pledge. More than 100 signatories have now signed the Pledge, representing more than $1.4 trillion in global annual revenues and more than 5 million employees across 25 industries and 16 countries.
- Decreased our overall carbon intensity. Amazon lowered its carbon intensity by 16% from 2019 to 2020, reflecting our early progress to decarbonize our operations as we continue to grow on behalf of our customers.
- Created The Climate Pledge Fund. Founded in 2020, the $2 billion investment fund supports the development of technologies and services that reduce carbon emissions and help preserve the natural world. The fund has already invested in seven visionary companies.
- Launched the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator. The accelerator is Amazon Web Services’ first to focus on fostering rapid growth of clean tech innovation. It helps startups working in clean energy accelerate their impact, access additional resources, and expand their reach.
- Helped drive the creation of the LEAF Coalition. The global public-private initiative aims to raise at least $1 billion to protect the world’s tropical rainforests.
- Launched Climate Pledge Friendly. The program launched in 2020 to help customers find products that preserve the natural world. We also partnered with trusted third-party certification organizations to highlight products that meet sustainability standards. The program started in the U.S. with more than 25,000 Climate Pledge Friendly products. It has since expanded to the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain with more than 75,000 Climate Pledge Friendly products in categories ranging from health and household items to office products and electronics.
- Secured the naming rights to Climate Pledge Arena. Amazon secured the rights in 2020 and the arena submitted registration to become the world’s first net-zero carbon certified arena.
- Launched a $1 billion sustainability bond. The investment funds new and ongoing sustainability projects that advance people and the planet. The proceeds will be used to fund projects in five areas that build on significant investments Amazon has made over the years: renewable energy, clean transportation, sustainable buildings, affordable housing, and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment.
- Announced new ways for customers to reduce their devices’ energy consumption. Amazon is the first consumer electronics company to commit to addressing the use phase of our devices through renewable energy investments. We are building our first Devices wind and solar farms in the U.S., and we have a bold goal to continue building new renewable energy projects until we account for the energy consumption of all Amazon devices.
- Supported policies to advance climate and clean energy solutions at the federal and state levels. We called for swift action by the new U.S. presidential administration and Congress to address climate change, transition to 100% clean energy, and drive job creation. Amazon also actively supported efforts to enable the development of lower cost renewable energy for consumers and to advance open and transparent energy markets.
We are relentlessly optimistic about the future. We know that crossing the finish line won’t be easy, and there’s still lots of exploring and inventing that needs to happen. But with passion, partnership and continued operational changes, we believe we can build a better future together.
Learn more about Amazon's commitment to sustainability.
Trending news and stories
