[ad_1]
A contractor employed by Amazon.com cleans a delivery truck in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.
David Paul Morris | bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon It has cut its carbon emissions for the first time since it began disclosing the figure four years ago.
in that Annual Sustainability Report Issued on Tuesday, the e-retailer said its activities emitted the equivalent of 71.27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year. This is down 0.4% from 2021, when it reported carbon emissions of 71.54 million metric tons. Emissions are still up nearly 40% since 2019, the year Amazon first began disclosing its carbon footprint.
The company also reported that carbon intensity, which measures emissions per dollar of sales, fell 7% between 2021 and 2022, and has fallen 24% since 2019.
“We’ve achieved this largely by improving efficiencies across our business and continuing our investment in renewable energy,” Amazon stated in the report.
The company said Scope 2 emissions, which represent emissions from electricity use, fell 29% between 2021 and 2022.
Amazon has spent millions on wind and solar projects to power some of its warehouses, data centers and offices, and recently became the largest buyer of renewable energy in the world. It has also pledged that its entire business will be carbon neutral by 2040.
Amazon said its Scope 3 emissions, which include indirect sources like building construction and third-party transportation, fell 0.7% in 2022 after three consecutive years of increases.
The company has worked to electrify its fleet, including the purchase of 100,000 Rivian electric delivery trucks, which it said will hit the roads by 2030. The company now has more than 9,000 electric vehicles in its global fleet, and 2,600 Rivian trucks in North America, according to the report.
However, Amazon’s climate record and the ways in which it measures its environmental record have come under scrutiny. Employees and shareholder groups have raised concerns that Amazon is not meeting its climate commitments, while environmental sanitation groups have criticized the company’s rapid warehouse expansion, which they argue. Generates disproportionate environmental damage In minority communities where their warehouses are often concentrated.
Amazon It was recently eliminated One of its climate goals, called Shipment Zero, is where the company has pledged to make half of its shipments carbon-neutral by 2030. Amazon He said It “no longer makes sense” to have a separate target that applies to one area of ​​its business, and to focus instead on the climate pledge.
On Tuesday, Amazon said it will also update its supply chain standards to require suppliers to share their carbon emissions data regularly, and to set emissions reduction targets. The change will take effect starting next year.
[ad_2]
