Amazon's climate pledge to be net-zero by 2040

In 2019, Amazon signed the Climate Pledge, a commitment to become a net-zero carbon business by 2040. Dave Clark, Amazon's chief of consumer retail, and Kara Hurst, head of the company's sustainability efforts, sit down with entrepreneur and activist Lindsay Levin to discuss how the company is planning to reduce its carbon footprint across all aspects of business -- while inviting other companies to join them in this transformation.

Lindsay Levin: So Dave,
in just a few months,

you transition into a new role
as CEO of consumer retail at Amazon.

That's a big role.

How will climate sit
as a priority for you,

given all the other things
you'll have on your plate?

Dave Clark: We've spent
much of our end of the summer

in smoke-filled Seattle,

unable to enjoy the majestic
Pacific Northwest due to all the fires

that encompassed the West Coast
of the US this summer.

Climate is a very real challenge
for all of us, not just at Amazon,

but in our daily lives at this point.

And I've been focused on this
with the team and with Kara for years now.

In fact, we've embedded
the sustainability teams

inside of our operations team,

as opposed to being
a separate part of the company,

because we wanted those teams
connected with the groups

that can actually make change.

LL: Kara, can you describe
a couple of the biggest hurdles you face

as you work to reduce
the carbon footprint

of a company like Amazon?

Kara Hurst: One of the really exciting
but also complex things about Amazon

is the diversity
of businesses that we're in,

the range of services and products,

of industries and different types
of buildings and stores

and fulfillment centers,

and of course, all of our online
infrastructure and business as well.

And we're committed to reaching
net zero emissions.

I think our size and our scale
can actually be a tremendous advantage.

It forces us to think about
our carbon footprint

throughout all of our businesses,

our operations, our technologies,
our services, our products.

And at one end,

we want to power our operations
by 100 percent renewable energy by 2025,

but we're also making sure
that when you receive a shipment,

we're at net zero carbon
all the way through those operations.

And we want to do this
in a very Amazonian way.

So we took a number of years to build
what we call "a carbon system of record."

These are tools that allow us
to think about this holistically

across the company.

LL: Dave, Amazon has made a pledge,

you call it "the Climate Pledge,"

to be net zero across
your business by 2040.

That's 10 years ahead
of the Paris Agreement.

Give us a sense of the scale
of transformation that that calls for

across your operations.

DC: It's very daunting.

When we started this process,

we started from a position of science,

of digging in and understanding
all the inputs of our business,

what parts of our business create
and put carbon into the environment,

what are the elements,
each piece of that process,

and how do we improve them.

And as we started looking at that,

we said, well, how are we going
to meet these objectives?

And it really requires innovation across
almost every aspect of the business,

whether it be in our renewable space,

whether it be in electrification
of our vehicles,

whether it be in
our packaging and processes,

whether it be working with manufacturers.

Essentially, the entire span
of our supply chain

is required to modify to meet
the objectives of this over time,

which is why the Climate Pledge
was so important.

LL: Kara, the Climate Pledge
is not just about Amazon.

You're inviting other
companies to join you.

KH: We know with the Climate Pledge
we cannot do this alone.

It's going to take companies,

but partnership also with governments
and communities and individuals

who will come up with solutions
and new technologies.

We want to engage our full supply chain

as well as other companies,

and we're really excited
that already 11 major organizations

have signed on to
the Climate Pledge with us.

We want to accelerate innovation,

and we've established
a two-billion-dollar Climate Pledge Fund

to invest in these companies

whose products and solutions
will facilitate the transition

to a low-carbon economy.

So we know this is
a very ambitious challenge,

but we want to make the greatest impact
in the shortest possible timeline,

and it's exciting to share the complexity
about how we think about this at Amazon

with other companies

and invite them to come along with us.

LL: Dave, when
a company like Amazon moves,

it can have a huge impact
across supply chains.

Give us an example or two
of how a decision that you've made

is catalyzing innovation
across the sector.

DC: I can tell you,
just the example of Rivian.

Rivian is the electric
vehicle manufacturer

that is going to build 100,000
electric delivery vehicles

for our delivery fleet.

When we went out and made this investment,

the number of new companies
that started to spawn

relative to supporting Rivian,

to new electric delivery vehicles,

to even alternative fuels --

we started getting calls
about alternative jet fuel

the day we put out
that announcement on Rivian.

So as soon as people saw
that we were going to invest real capital

for substantive portions
of our operations --

these aren't hobbies,

but putting real money
into big pieces of our operations --

it was amazing, the amount of companies
that started coming out

who had an emergent technology here

or had a great idea and needed help
in getting manufacturing started.

There was just example
after example of those.

LL: Dave, Kara, thank you so much
for being with us.

We wish you every success
with the Climate Pledge

and really can't wait to see the progress
you guys are going to make.

DC: Thank you, it's an honor to be here
and be part of such an amazing event.

KH: Thank you.