Amazon’s proven once again that its global leadership goes beyond just being a giant online retailer. The company recently announced that it has also become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and globally.
The Seattle-based firm said it has launched nine new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Sweden, and Europe. This brings the global total of Amazon’s renewable energy projects to 206. These include 71 wind and solar projects, as well as 135 solar rooftops on the company’s buildings and stores worldwide.
With this expansion, it now has more than 2.5 GW of renewable capacity in Europe and 8.5 GW globally. This brings the company even closer to its goal to use 100 percent of renewable energy for its activities by 2025. The original target was by 2030.
The nine projects include Amazon’s first solar-generation and energy storage pairing in California’s Imperial Valley, renewable projects in Oklahoma and Ohio, its first solar energy investment in Canada, a 350 MW wind farm off the coast of Scotland, solar investments in Spain, and a wind project in Northern Sweden.
“Amazon continues to scale up its investments in renewable energy as part of its effort to meet The Climate Pledge, our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, and CEO.
In 2019, together with Global Optimism, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge, committing to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and become carbon neutral by 2040. Today, the pledge has 53 signatories, including leading firms such as Microsoft, IBM, Verizon, Unilever, Siemens, and Best Buy.
In addition to its 100 percent renewable energy goal, Amazon also plans to make all its shipments carbon neutral, with the goal of achieving a 50 percent net-zero carbon by 2030. It is also purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, investing $2 billion in decarbonizing projects via the Climate Pledge Fund, and $100 million in reforestation projects and climate mitigation solutions.
“The size and scale of the climate crisis demands that the business community joins forces and works together to invent, fund, and implement bold decarbonization programs to help protect the planet,” said Bezos. “No one company can solve this problem on its own.”
In 2020, Amazon also partnered with We Mean Business, a global coalition of nonprofit organizations, urging both large public, and private companies to speed up their climate efforts. In addition, all signatories to The Climate Pledge are also encouraged to set carbon emissions targets in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
“The science is clear. We must hold temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest,” said María Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business coalition. “Through The Climate Pledge, companies can go further, faster. With a commitment to collaboration and innovation, those at the head of the pack can reach net-zero emissions by 2040. To do that, we must accelerate supply chain action and develop a robust approach to Nature-Based Solutions. We are delighted to be collaborating with Amazon, who have shown bold leadership and deep commitment to tackling the climate crisis.”
