The online retailer Amazon announced this week that it pledges to become carbon neutral by 2040.

Dr Frederik Dahlmann, Associate Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at Warwick Business School, comments.

"Amazon’s announcement to join the “zeronauts” by going carbon neutral by 2040 is a welcome step forwards in addressing the urgent climate crisis. While the company recognises the different types of investments necessary (including electric delivery vans and renewable energies) they also highlight that some emissions will be inevitable requiring offsetting in some other form. The hope is that by setting such a target its employees can start thinking about and implementing ideas that will not only reach this target, but also ideally achieve this earlier than 2040. Amazon is also sending a strong signal to other companies that they all need to engage with the challenge of climate change and announce similar ambitions.

"At the same time, Amazon would also do well to consider its wider role in our daily lives. With its market dominance and ubiquity the company should also engage with concerns about packaging and the circular economy, for example by making delivery vans take back wrapping paper and cartons. Additionally, the company may also want to nudge customers towards buying products from its website that adhere to similar sustainability practices. Addressing climate change cannot be done in isolation and instead requires wider collaboration between companies in different sectors."

20 September 2019

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