Amazon will buy 100,000 electric vans for $440 million as part of its long-term aim to operate climate-neutrally by 2040 and expand its own US delivery fleet significantly in the process.
The investment “will accelerate the production of electric vehicles critical to reducing emissions from transportation” and is the largest-ever single order for electric delivery vehicles, according to the e-commerce giant which is currently investing massively in its logistics and delivery operations in major markets around the world.
Amazon is buying the delivery vans from Rivian, a producer of emissions-free electric vehicles based in Plymouth, Michigan and with a manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. The first Rivian vans will take to the road in 2021, with 10,000 vehicles due to be operating by 2022 and all 100,000 by 2030. This will save 4 million metric tons of carbon per year by 2030.
The big transportation investment is part of Amazon’s signing of The Climate Pledge, a commitment by businesses to meet the targets of the Paris climate agreement by 2040, and thus 10 years ahead of the Paris goal of 2050.
Companies that sign The Climate Pledge, launched by newly-founded Global Optimism, agree to:
- Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis;
- Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies;
- Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially-beneficial offsets to achieve net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.
“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,” declared Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “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.”
“Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low carbon economy,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief and founding partner of Global Optimism. “With this step, Amazon also helps many other companies to accelerate their own decarbonization. If Amazon can set ambitious goals like this and make significant changes at their scale, we think many more companies should be able to do the same and will accept the challenge.”
By joining The Climate Pledge and agreeing to decarbonize on a faster time horizon, signatories will play a critical role in stimulating investment in the development of low carbon products and services that will be required to help companies meet the pledge.
As part of its Climate Pledge commitments, Amazon is pledging to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030 on its path to net zero carbon by 2040. The company has so far launched 15 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects that will generate over 1,300 MW of renewable capacity and deliver more than 3.8 million MWh of clean energy annually. It has also installed more than 50 solar rooftops on fulfillment centers and sorting centers around the globe that generate 98 MW of renewable capacity and deliver 130,000 MWh of clean energy annually.
In addition, Amazon is launching the Right Now Climate Fund, committing $100 million to restore and protect forests, wetlands and peatlands around the world in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. The Fund will help remove millions of metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the lifetime of the project, and create economic opportunity for thousands of people, according to the company.
Moreover, Amazon has launched a new sustainability website to report on its commitments, initiatives, and performance. The site includes information on Amazon’s carbon footprint and other sustainability metrics that share the progress the company is making towards reaching The Climate Pledge.
Amazon emphasised that these newly-announced goals, commitments, investments and programs build on its long-term commitment to sustainability through existing innovative programs, including Shipment Zero – Amazon’s vision to make all shipments net zero carbon, with 50% net zero carbon by 2030; sustainable packaging initiatives like Frustration-Free Packaging and Ship in Own Container, which have reduced packaging waste by 25% since 2015.
