News / Prime pollution: Amazon's climate pledge deemed worthless as emissions soar

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Amazon’s climate pledge announced in September 2019 looks like a fig leaf in light of a report on the trajectory of the ecommerce giant’s CO2 emissions over the past five years.

A joint investigation by Stand.Earth Research Group, Ship It Zero, a climate and public health campaign, and Pacific Environment, a campaign group to stop climate change that aims to fast-track key industries towards zero emissions, indicates a 25% rise in Amazon’s CO2 emissions since the pledge was made and brands the company’s green initiatives as greenwashing. The report’s authors call on Amazon to make firm commitments to zero emissions goals and verifiable metrics to track its progress.

“No one should be fooled by Amazon’s greenwashing,” said Joshua Archer, senior global corporate campaigner at Stand.Earth. “The company remains a prime polluter, despite its efforts to position itself as a climate champion. There’s still time to correct course, and we are eager to join Amazon leadership at the table and discuss real solutions that protect our climate and communities.”

According to the report, Amazon’s emissions from moving imports from dock to door have risen from 3.33m tonnes in 2019 to 5.84m tonnes last year, growing at an average annual rate of 18%.

The heaviest impact has come from the company’s pursuit of fast deliveries through an increased use of air transport, which saw a 67% increase in CO2 footprint, at an average annual growth rate of 15%. Airfreight accounts for more than 42% of the carbon emissions of every parcel moving through its US transport system (irrespective of mode), the researchers calculated.

They noted that the paucity of data that Amazon provides on this, combined with its use of third-party carriers, makes a full accounting of its aviation emissions nearly impossible. As of June 2024, the company operated 93 planes with eight carriers, producing altogether about 2.5m tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Likewise, the use of third-party truckers makes a full capture of emissions on that side challenging. At 37% of the average emissions of a package’s journey, this is the second-largest polluter in the Amazon logistics network and has expanded 51% over the past five years, according to the report.

Emissions from delivery vans powered with fossil fuel surged 195% over the period at Amazon, the study indicates. Emissions from inbound marine transport climbed a relatively modest 26%.

The report’s authors contrast these increases in emissions with the steps that Amazon has taken to burnish its green credentials, arguing that these are far away from reining in the company’s rising CO2 footprint. They point to the planned adoption of 120,000 electric delivery vans by 2030, calculating that the use of such vehicles has barely reduced average annual growth in emissions (from 36% without to 35% with them). The planned deployment will account for less than a third of the number of vans needed to move projected volumes by 2030, they noted.

In the aviation sector, Amazon has touted its use of electric loaders and its participation in the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance.

Meanwhile, “last year, the company quietly backed out of its Shipment Zero initiative to make 50% of its shipments net-zero by 2030, further demonstrating its lack of seriousness,” the study’s authors wrote.

Amazon’s emissions are projected to continue growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5%-11.5% through 2030, the report noted.

Its authors call on Amazon to get serious about emissions reduction, pointing out that the behemoth has an estimated 38% share of the US ecommerce market and has overtaken FedEx and UPS to become the largest delivery company in the US with a 27% share of parcel volume.

“Amazon has the market-shaping power and responsibility to innovate shipping and logistics consistent with the principles of climate and environmental justice. In the near-term, Amazon should commit to zero-emission deliveries in the last mile and maritime sectors. Amazon also must show a verifiable roadmap to zero-emission shipping in heavy-duty trucking by 2035 and aviation by 2040,” they commented.