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Amazon's Influence on Climate Change

Amazon is undoubtedly one of the largest and most influential companies in the world, with 670 facilities in North America (D&B Hoovers, 2023). Climate change is one of the most critical issues of our time, and companies such as Amazon are uniquely positioned to create positive change. Amazon is one of the world's largest companies, with a global reach and immense ability to influence countless markets and industries. As such, they have the potential to be leading contributors to the global effort to reduce climate change. Amazon has taken some steps already to do this, but has a long way to go.

One of the most significant impacts Amazon has on climate change is through its operations and business practices. Amazon has been criticized for its reliance on fossil fuels for powering its massive warehouses, fleets of delivery vans, and data centers that make up its global infrastructure (Pratt, 2020). Additionally, the company’s demand for new products from suppliers around the world has resulted in increased emissions from transportation and energy usage. Moreover, the company’s lack of transparency and the fact that it has yet to commit and report any substantial emissions reductions targets has raised further concerns about its lack of action on the climate crisis (CNBC, 2019). In 2013, a report found that 93% of the top companies in the world reported their CSR (Yu et al, 2022). While they have expressed support for clean energy and climate policies, they have had a controversial lack of transparency about their own contributions in the past (Caraway, 2020). So, the question is, what are they really doing about their own carbon footprint?

The company’s immense carbon footprint is primarily due to its excessive packaging and product delivery. Amazon’s delivery fleets, which are composed of trucks, planes, and drones, cause a large amount of pollution from their exhaust. Furthermore, Amazon wastes about 90% of plastic they use with their products (Moore, 2021). Additionally, their huge warehouses and data centers generate large amounts of energy and create immense waste. Amazon’s environmental impact is further amplified by its lack of accountability, as the company has been known to skirt environmental regulations and avoid compensating communities affected by their activities.

Amazon’s vast global reach has a significant impact on the climate crisis. The company’s warehouses, delivery fleets, and data centers together consume an enormous amount of energy. Additionally, Amazon’s business model is built on the convenience of fast shipping, which results in large quantities of fossil fuels being burned to power their delivery fleets. The company’s storage warehouses also cause a large carbon footprint, and the company’s focus on fast delivery means that its goods are often transported over long distances.

With climate change becoming an increasingly pressing issue, many companies are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment. According to the University of Tennessee Knoxville, "Amazon has recently agreed to disclose its carbon footprint, and has stated that its goal is to have 50 percent of its deliveries have a net zero carbon footprint by 2030." Amazon also has started looking into new ways to deliver products, such as by drone. According to Frachtenburg 2019, "Amazon, with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) limited blessing, expects to begin actual aerial drone deliveries in the United States within months and is also experimenting with terrestrial delivery robots." Additionally, a study was done to show just how drones compare to other delivery methods, such as by trucks, Overall, drones emitted less carbon at short distances and outpaced trucks in speed (Goodchild, 2018). The study overall did state that a combination of delivery methods would be best for the environment.