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Amazon co-founds The Climate Pledge with Global Optimism
27 Sep '19
3 min read
Pic: Business Wire
Amazon and Global Optimism, an enterprise focused on social and environmental change, recently announced The Climate Pledge, a commitment to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early. Amazon is the first signatory to the 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 measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis; implement decarbonisation strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, material reduction and other carbon emission elimination strategies; and neutralise 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,” an Amazon press release quoted chief executive officer Jeff Bezos as saying.
“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,” Bezos said.
“Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low carbon economy,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief and founding partner of Global Optimism.
By joining the pledge and agreeing to decarbonise on a faster time horizon, signatories will play a critical role in stimulating investment in the development of low carbon products and services that will be required to help companies meet the pledge.
Two years ago, Amazon made a long-term commitment to power its global infrastructure with cent per cent renewable energy. Amazon is now pledging to reach 80 per cent renewable energy by 2024 and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 on its path to net zero carbon by 2040.
Amazon is also 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. The fund will help remove millions of metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and create economic opportunity for thousands.
Amazon 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 the progress the company is making towards reaching The Climate Pledge.
Companies that sign The Climate Pledge agree to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis; implement decarbonisation strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, material reduction and other carbon emission elimination strategies; and neutralise 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,” an Amazon press release quoted chief executive officer Jeff Bezos as saying.
“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,” Bezos said.
“Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low carbon economy,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief and founding partner of Global Optimism.
By joining the pledge and agreeing to decarbonise on a faster time horizon, signatories will play a critical role in stimulating investment in the development of low carbon products and services that will be required to help companies meet the pledge.
Two years ago, Amazon made a long-term commitment to power its global infrastructure with cent per cent renewable energy. Amazon is now pledging to reach 80 per cent renewable energy by 2024 and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 on its path to net zero carbon by 2040.
Amazon is also 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. The fund will help remove millions of metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and create economic opportunity for thousands.
Amazon 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 the progress the company is making towards reaching The Climate Pledge.
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