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9 takeaways from Amazon’s 2022 Sustainability Report
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In 2022, we took important steps forward across our social, community, and environmental work, while also continuing to expand our sustainability vision for the future of our business. At the center of it all is our customer obsession. We know that sustainability is important to our customers, and we’re continuously investing, inventing, and improving to make every interaction more sustainable than the last. We do this while working to minimize our impact on the planet and the communities we operate in.
Amazon is an ecommerce business, entertainment studio, cloud provider, grocer, and more—and we’re making sustainability a priority across all of these businesses. The Climate Pledge is Amazon’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, and every day we’re working toward this goal. It’s an incredibly challenging task, but one that we’re confident we can achieve. From the moment a customer clicks “Buy Now” to the moment a package arrives on their doorstep, we have teams of scientists and engineers working to make that process more sustainable. Across our production studios, we’re reducing the use of fossil fuels, deploying battery-electric generators, using solar-powered cast trailers, and operating electric vehicles on sets. At AWS, we’re helping customers reduce their environmental impact, offering advanced engineering, data centers, and cloud computing that reduces energy and workload carbon emissions.
I’m proud of and inspired by the work our teams around the world have accomplished, and excited about what’s ahead. Read below for nine highlights from the report.
We are on a path to powering our operations with 100% renewable energy, and we’re on track to do this by 2025, five years ahead of schedule. In 2022, 90% of electricity consumed by Amazon was powered by renewable energy sources, thanks to more than 400 wind and solar projects around the world. In addition to wind and solar electricity, we’re also investing and innovating in new energy technologies like green hydrogen. Through the Climate Pledge Fund , we’re working with companies like Electric Hydrogen and Sunfire to improve energy generation, storage, and utilization.
In 2022, we had more than 9,000 electric delivery vehicles in our global fleet, and 145 million packages were delivered by EVs in the U.S. and Europe. Our goal is to get 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian on the road by 2030. Today, we have more than 5,000 vehicles operating in the U.S. and recently announced the first 300 to hit the road in Germany.
We’re also investing in sustainable logistics technologies and have more than 15,000 hydrogen-powered forklifts operating in our fulfillment centers in North America. In 2022, we signed a deal for enough green hydrogen to fuel 40,000 forklifts annually by 2025. We also deployed e-cargo bikes, scooters, and on-foot deliveries from micromobility hubs, including in New York City’s Manhattan and in 20 cities across Europe—from London and Paris to Marseille and Munich.
We’re continuously improving our packaging for customers, using machine learning to minimize excess waste and single-use plastic. In 2022, we decreased single-use plastic by 11.6% across our global operations by expanding paper-based packaging, and continuing to use lighter and more-flexible packaging. Where possible, we also eliminate packaging altogether. In 2022, 11 percent of all packages shipped globally were without added Amazon delivery packaging.
Smaller and lighter packages take up less space during transport, and result in fewer carbon emissions in delivery. Since 2015, we’ve reduced the average weight of packaging per shipment by 41%, avoiding more than 2 million tons of material waste—the weight of 230 Space Needles, the iconic landmark in our hometown of Seattle.
Reaching net-zero carbon by 2040 requires Amazon to reduce its carbon footprint across our entire business, including our vast global supply chain. Like many companies our size, this is challenging, as these are activities that take place outside our direct operational control. We know that to decrease our carbon footprint, we must work with our supply chain partners to help them decarbonize their own operations. Beginning in 2024, we’re updating our Supply Chain Standards to require suppliers to share their carbon emissions data with us and set carbon goals. We’ll use our scale, investment, and innovation to provide tools and resources to help them reach their goals—whether that’s transitioning to renewable energy or accessing more sustainable materials.
Amazon is a high-growth company, and a decreasing carbon intensity indicates that we’re successfully decoupling our emissions growth from the growth of our business. Our carbon intensity decreased 7% in 2022, while our business continued to grow. The carbon intensity metric allows us to measure how our carbon footprint is changing relative to the growth of the business.
Our total carbon footprint also decreased by 0.4% in 2022 as a result of our renewable energy investments, as well as a decrease in emissions from building construction and third-party transportation.
AWS is designing data centers, including servers and hardware, for efficiency, resiliency, and a lower carbon footprint. Research shows that AWS can lower customers’ workload carbon footprints by nearly 80% compared to on-premises computing workloads and lower workloads up to 96% once AWS is powered with 100% renewable energy.
AWS also announced it will be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities and the environment than we use in our direct operations.
Customers want products that align with their values, including sustainability. Our Climate Pledge Friendly (CPF) program helps customers identify products that are vetted by one or more trusted third-party sustainability certifiers as well as our own. In 2022, we more than doubled the number of CPF products available, and today, customers can shop from more than 550,000 CPF products. This same year, we shipped more than 800 million CPF-certified products, and the program now includes more than 50 certifications.
People are critical to the success of our business, and Amazon is committed to treating our employees, and the people connected to our entire value chain, with fundamental dignity and respect. In 2022, we committed $3 million to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Climate Gender Equity Fund to address inequities that exist for women in the climate finance ecosystem. We also support female entrepreneurs with the resources they need to develop climate change innovations.
Operating a diverse supply chain brings innovation, economic growth, and it’s the right thing for society as a whole. In 2022, we focused on building and strengthening our supplier diversity and inclusion (SDI) processes, technologies, and partnerships. We spent $3.3 billion with 375 certified diverse suppliers, and hosted in-person events designed to meet diverse and small business owners across the U.S.
Wynne Pickus, sustainability program manager, walks through the progress Amazon made on sustainability last year as part of our @climatepledge mission – from reducing packaging weight 📦, to reaching 90% renewable electricity ☀️. https://t.co/xqE7RD0Qjv pic.twitter.com/EjNfVzkfMM — Amazon (@amazon) July 18, 2023
The Path Forward
We know there are no shortcuts or quick fixes to being a sustainable company, and we know that progress may look different every year on this journey. We’re working on solutions today—making big bets, tackling grand challenges, and inventing on behalf of our customers—and we’re excited about what’s ahead.
Learn more about Amazon's commitment to sustainability , and read our 2022 Sustainability Report in full .
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How amazon continues to improve its packaging.
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Amazon’s 2022 Sustainability Report builds on our sustainability progress over the last decade—particularly since 2019 when we co-founded The Climate Pledge and announced our commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across our business by 2040. download our report. Building a Better Future Together: Amazon’s 2022 Sustainability Report.
Packages delivered by electric vehicles in the U.S. and Europe in 2022. Becoming water positive requires innovative solutions and collaborations with AWS employees, global nonprofits, and public utilities—all with the same goal of creating a better future for our planet. We aim to have a net-positive impact on the world through sustainability ...
90% of the electricity consumed by Amazon in 2022 was attributable to renewable energy sources, and we remain on a path to 100% by 2025 —five years ahead of our original 2030 target. 3.9 billion liters of water are returned to communities each year from water replenishment projects completed or underway. More than 550,000 more-sustainable ...
Recyclable packaging for Amazon devices Make Amazon device packaging 100% recyclable by 2023 Page 34 Society Upskilling 2025 $1.2 billion investment to upskill 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025 Page 49 Diversity, equity, and inclusion Double the number of U.S. Black employees at Level 8 and Level 10 year over year from 2020 numbers Page 53