- Amazon has announced several of its goals as part of The Climate Pledge along with an order for 100,000 electric vans from Rivian
Today Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made a few big statements including new “Climate Pledge” goals along with an order for 100,000 Rivian vehicles. Bezos made the announcements at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. today.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company is ordering 100,000 electric delivery vans from Michigan-based Rivian Automotive in order to push for running the company on renewable energy. The vans are expected to start deploying in 2021 and a full deployment of the 100,000 vehicles are expected by 2024.
“Our fleet is Electrifying! Thrilled to announce the order of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles – the largest order of electric delivery vehicles ever. Look out for the new vans starting in 2021,” said Amazon SVP Worldwide Operations Dave Clark in a tweet:
Our fleet is Electrifying! Thrilled to announce the order of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles – the largest order of electric delivery vehicles ever. Look out for the new vans starting in 2021. pic.twitter.com/y5qYpuy2WP
— Dave Clark (@davehclark) September 19, 2019
As a whole, Amazon is aiming to convert its delivery fleet to 100% renewable by 2030. As of right now, Amazon runs 40% of its delivery fleet on renewable energy.
Rivian spokesperson Amy Mast pointed out that this order will not impact its other production such as the planned release of the R1T and R1S next year.
“For Amazon, the first vehicles will be making deliveries by 2021, with 10,000 vehicles on the road by late 2022,” said Mast via CNBC.
Along with partnering with Rivian on this initiative, Amazon is also an investor in the automaker. Back in February, Amazon led a $700 million investment in Rivian. At the time of Amazon’s investment Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe stated: “We are excited to have Amazon with us on our journey to create products, technology and experiences that reset expectations of what is possible.”
Bezos also said that the company is progressing toward the goals United Nations Paris Agreement with a plan that is reducing emissions 10 years ahead of schedule.
“We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue—we’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. “If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon—which delivers more than 10 billion items a year—can meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early, then any company can. I’ve been talking with other CEOs of global companies, and I’m finding a lot of interest in joining the pledge. Large companies signing The Climate Pledge will send an important signal to the market that it’s time to invest in the products and services the signatories will need to meet their commitments.”
The Paris Agreement was written with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it was signed by 194 countries along with the European Union. Earlier this year, the Trump administration had announced its intent to withdraw from the contract. The contract is up for renewal in November 2019 and it is unclear whether President Trump will actually follow through on that.
Bezos and Amazon still decided independently to push for the terms. Thousands of Amazon employees had submitted a proposal for Bezos to put together a plan to reduce the carbon footprint of the company and donate to legislators who were in favor of battling climate change.
Another initiative Amazon signed is committing $100 million to the The Nature Conservancy to help with reforestation.
With the $100 million, Amazon is launching the Right Now Climate Fund — which will restore and protect forests, wetlands, and peatlands around the world in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. The Right Now Climate Fund is going to help remove millions of metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the project lifetime and create economic opportunity for thousands of people.
“The science is clear: healthy forests, grasslands, and wetlands are some of the most effective tools we have to address climate change—but we must act now to take natural climate solutions to scale,” added Sally Jewell, the interim CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “Amazon is recognized as an innovator that drives real change. A commitment of this size is an exciting opportunity, with the potential to drive transformational change. We applaud Amazon’s Climate Pledge and their aggressive ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and look forward to our high-impact collaboration.”
