Amazon pledges to become carbon neutral as climate protest starts

The online giant unveiled its plans as a ‘global climate strike’ began, bringing protesters onto the streets, from Mumbai to London.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said Amazon was “done being in the middle of the herd on this issue”.

The company became the first signatory of the Climate Pledge, organised with pressure group Global Optimism.

The pledge calls for the regular measurement and reporting of greenhouse-gas emissions and the implementation of “decarbonisation strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations”, such as efficiency improvements and a reduction in the use of materials.

Signatories must also “neutralise any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040”.

Bezos said: “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.

“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.”

Global Optimism founder and former UN climate change chief Christiana Figueres 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.

“With this step, Amazon also helps many other companies to accelerate their own decarbonisation. 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.”