Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos promised to tackle climate change as it became the first company to sign the “Climate Pledge” where the retail giant committed to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement 10 years in advance.
In a report by CNBC, Bezos promised to measure and report the company’s emissions on a regular basis, implement decarbonization strategies, as well as alter the company’s business strategies to offset remaining emissions.
According to Bezos, he is expecting 80% of Amazon’s energy use to come from renewable sources by 2024 from its current rate of 40%, before finally transitioning to zero emissions by 2030.
“We want to use our scale and our scope to lead the way. One of the things we know about Amazon as a role model for this is that it’s a difficult challenge for us because we have deep, large physical infrastructure. So, if we can do this, anyone can do this, ” said Bezos.
Amazon also agreed to purchase 100,000 electric delivery vans from vehicle manufacturer Rivian which will first be available by 2021 and will be completely deployed by 2024.
Apart from that, the xompany is also donating $100 million to The Nature Conservancy to form the Right Now Climate Fund, which aims to remove carbon from the atmosphere and will work to restore and protect forests, wetlands and peatlands around the world.
The plan calls for other companies to join Amazon in pledging to have net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
(Photo source: cnn.com/ cnbc.com)
