19 September 2019: In advance of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, Amazon and Global Optimism, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres’s podcast, launched ‘The Climate Pledge,’ a commitment to meet the Paris Agreement ten years early. The Climate Pledge calls on signatories to make their businesses net zero carbon by 2040.

Companies signing on to the Pledge agree to:

• Measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a regular basis;
• Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions and other carbon emission elimination strategies; and
• Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low-carbon economy.

“Large companies signing The Climate Pledge will send an important signal to the market that it’s time to invest in the products and services the signatories will need to meet their commitments,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. For example, Amazon’s USD 440 million investment in Rivian, a producer of emissions-free electric vehicles, will accelerate the production of electric vehicles to reduce emissions from transportation.

“Bold steps by big companies will make a huge difference in the development of new technologies and industries to support a low-carbon economy,” Figueres commented.

Amazon also launched a sustainability website to report on its commitments, initiatives and performance, including information on its carbon footprint and other sustainability metrics that share the progress the company is making towards reaching The Climate Pledge. [Amazon Press Release] [Global Optimism Website] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Climate Action Summit]