- Today Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced The Climate Pledge Fund for supporting the development of sustainable technologies and services with a $2 billion commitment
Today Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced The Climate Pledge Fund for supporting the development of sustainable technologies and services that will enable Amazon and other companies to meet The Climate Pledge — which is a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040. And this dedicated venture investment program (with an initial $2 billion in funding) will back visionary companies whose products and services will facilitate the transition to a zero-carbon economy.
Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge last year, which is a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement ten years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. Verizon, Reckitt Benckiser, and Infosys recently joined the pledge.
“The Climate Pledge Fund will look to invest in the visionary entrepreneurs and innovators who are building products and services to help companies reduce their carbon impact and operate more sustainably,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. “Companies from around the world of all sizes and stages will be considered, from pre-product startups to well-established enterprises. Each prospective investment will be judged on its potential to accelerate the path to zero carbon and help protect the planet for future generations.”
The Climate Pledge Fund is going to invest in companies in multiple industries, including transportation and logistics, energy generation, storage and utilization, manufacturing and materials, circular economy, and food and agriculture. And over time, Amazon will also look for opportunities to involve other Climate Pledge signatories in this venture investment program.
“Amazon has demonstrated its leadership in adopting low carbon technologies at scale,” added Rivian Automotive CEO RJ Scaringe. “Their investment in Rivian and subsequent order of 100,000 electric delivery vans will substantially shrink the carbon footprint of Amazon’s package delivery network. We’re excited about a future of decarbonized delivery services.”
Amazon also recently announced its 2019 sustainability report along with an update on its sustainability goals and programs. The milestones include a path to run on 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of schedule. And as part of The Climate Pledge, Amazon had previously committed to reaching 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030.
So far, Amazon has announced 91 renewable energy projects around the globe. And together, these projects totaling over 2,900 MW of capacity will deliver more than 7.6 million MWh of renewable energy annually, enough to power 680,000 U.S. homes.
Amazon has made two investments from its $100 million Right Now Climate Fund in nature-based solutions and reforestation projects around the world, including a reforestation project in the Appalachians in the U.S. and an urban greening initiative in Berlin, Germany.
Since 2015, Amazon reduced the weight of outbound packaging by 33% and eliminated over 880,000 tons of packaging material, the equivalent of 1.5 billion shipping boxes.
