Amazon still aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions across its global operations by 2040, but CEO Andy Jassy says the company did not have a complete plan when it announced that goal in 2019. Amazon’s latest reported figures show mixed progress: its total emissions rose in 2024 even as emissions per dollar of sales fell. The distinction matters: improving intensity does not mean the company emitted less overall.
What Amazon’s net-zero pledge means
Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge with Global Optimism in 2019. Amazon’s stated commitment is to reach net-zero carbon emissions across its global operations by 2040. That wording sets a target year and an organizational boundary; it should not automatically be treated as identical to the broader framework The Climate Pledge describes for signatories, which addresses emissions across all scopes and value chains. Amazon’s 2026 proxy statement and its Climate Pledge page describe the company’s target.
The Climate Pledge community framework calls on signatories to measure and report emissions across all scopes, decarbonize in line with climate science, and neutralize remaining emissions to reach net zero by 2040. Its report describes net zero as cutting emissions across operations and value chains as far as possible, then neutralizing what remains with credible offsets. The framework describes an approach for the pledge community; it does not erase the difference between that all-scopes framing and Amazon’s target wording about global operations. The Climate Pledge’s September 15, 2026 report explains its framework.
Why Jassy says the route is evolving
In Amazon’s recap of a Climate Pledge Summit fireside chat, Jassy said that when Amazon announced the pledge in 2019, it “didn’t really have a plan on how we’d get there.” He added that the company knew how to achieve “a good chunk” of the goal, but that “there’s still a lot of innovation left to happen.” Amazon’s recap presents his remarks; it does not provide a transcript or recording, and the displayed material does not give an exact date for the chat. Read Amazon’s recap of Jassy’s sustainability discussion.
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Jassy also described the pledge as a management commitment rather than a distant aspiration to revisit near the deadline. In Amazon’s account, he said senior leaders meet regularly with the sustainability team, have targets and commitments, and must discuss progress as well as areas where they are not progressing. His explanation is that the destination was set before every practical step was known, with ongoing work needed to develop and scale solutions.
What Amazon’s 2024 emissions figures show
Amazon’s disclosures report two different measures, and they moved in opposite directions in 2024. Absolute emissions measure the total reported greenhouse-gas footprint; intensity measures emissions relative to a business activity denominator. Neither figure on its own gives the full picture.
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- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
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| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute emissions | 64.38 million metric tons CO2e | 68.25 million metric tons CO2e | Total reported emissions increased. |
| Emissions intensity | 75.6 grams CO2e per dollar of gross merchandise sales | 72.6 grams CO2e per dollar of gross merchandise sales | Reported emissions per dollar of gross merchandise sales decreased. |
These figures are from Amazon’s 2024 Sustainability Report executive summary. Amazon’s 2026 proxy statement characterizes the year-over-year changes as a 6% increase in absolute emissions and a 4% decrease in carbon intensity, while business grew 11%. It also says intensity fell approximately 40% from 2019. That long-term intensity decline is not a 40% reduction in total emissions.
For a reader asking whether Amazon is “making progress,” the careful answer is that its reported efficiency measure improved while its reported total emissions rose in 2024. Amazon attributes the comparison to a year of business growth, but the figures alone do not establish the causal effect of each initiative or prove that its overall climate impact fell. These are company disclosures, not independent verification of every program’s effect.
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Renewable electricity matching is not the same as zero emissions
Amazon says it matched 100% of the electricity consumed by its global operations with renewable energy in 2024. That is a claim about matching electricity consumption with renewable energy; it does not establish that every site was supplied with carbon-free electricity every hour, nor does it mean the company had no emissions from other activities. The figure appears in Amazon’s 2024 executive summary.
How Amazon says it intends to cut emissions
Amazon describes a portfolio of approaches rather than a single technology. Its 2026 account of its energy strategy says no one solution is sufficient and lists wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, nuclear power and battery storage. Its proxy statement also discusses carbon-free energy investments, data-center efficiency, construction materials and transportation measures. These are the company’s stated areas of work; a planned or announced project is not necessarily already operating or delivering a verified reduction. Amazon’s account of its carbon-free energy approach and its 2026 proxy statement describe these efforts.
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- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
Energy supply and storage
Renewable and other carbon-free energy sources, together with battery storage, are part of Amazon’s stated effort to supply its operations with lower-carbon electricity. The range of technologies matters because energy needs and available resources vary by location and time; the company’s list should be read as a strategy, not evidence that every option is deployed everywhere.
Data centers, logistics and materials
Amazon also points to data-center efficiency, transportation and construction materials. These activities extend beyond buying electricity and show why a net-zero pathway involves operational changes as well as energy procurement. The available company disclosures identify these areas but do not establish an independently verified emissions reduction for each one.
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How to assess the pledge over time
A pledge is easier to evaluate when its boundary, metric and progress reporting are kept distinct. For Amazon or another company, useful questions include:
- What is the target year? Amazon’s stated deadline is 2040.
- Which emissions are covered? Amazon’s target refers to global operations; The Climate Pledge community framework speaks to all scopes and value chains.
- Is progress measured in totals or intensity? Amazon reported an increase in total emissions and a decline in emissions per dollar of gross merchandise sales in 2024.
- How are remaining emissions handled? The community framework calls for neutralizing emissions that remain after reductions.
- Are interim results disclosed and independently assured? Amazon reports annual measures, but the cited company disclosures are not independent verification of every initiative’s impacts.
The Climate Pledge reported more than 700 signatories across 62 industries and 49 countries and territories as of September 15, 2026. Its 2026 impact metrics draw on emissions data supplied by 119 signatories to a third-party database, representing approximately 90% of public signatory revenue. Those sample qualifiers apply to the pledge’s impact statistics, not to Amazon’s individual 2024 emissions figures. The report page provides the community figures. The available disclosures do not provide a consistent basis for ranking Amazon against peer companies.
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