world's largest e-commerce company is moving at the pace that scientists say is necessary to prevent the worst impacts of climate change—let alone taking the leadership position on the issue thousands of employees want it to.
Amazon, with its diverse portfolio of energy-hungry businesses, faces a challenge in calculating and reducing emissions. Some recent moves, such as its push toward ever-faster delivery speeds for its core Prime customers, raise questions about its ability to do so.
Meanwhile, its influence over consumer behavior and its position at the hub of a vast, global supply chain give Amazon the opportunity for enormous impact beyond its own direct emissions.
"They could define a new standard for sustainable e-commerce," said Elizabeth Sturcken, who heads Environmental Defense Fund's work with corporations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Amazon has set ambitious, though still ambiguous, targets for renewable energy use—its long-term goal is to power all of its global infrastructure that way—and more recently for reducing emissions from shipments to customers. It touts the wind and solar energy already powering parts of its vast network of data centers and warehouses, the efficiency of its headquarters buildings and the public transportation its employees take to work.
But other moves, such as the purchase of a large fleet of diesel vans and the shift to one-day delivery, could complicate its plan to reduce emissions from its main business of selling and delivering goods to people's doors—a model that otherwise has some inherent efficiency and emissions advantages.
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