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Amazon reported that its absolute greenhouse-gas emissions fell 3% in 2023, to 68.82 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). The decline was uneven: Scope 1 emissions rose 7%, while Scope 2 emissions fell 11%. Bloomberg linked part of the overall reduction to lower emissions from capital goods as Amazon cut spending on warehouses and cloud data centers after expanding during the pandemic.
Did Amazon’s carbon emissions fall in 2023?
Yes. In its 2023 Sustainability Report, published in 2024, Amazon said its absolute emissions decreased 3% year over year to 68.82 million metric tons of CO2e. These are figures reported by the company for its own emissions inventory, not an independent assessment of Amazon’s environmental performance.
The headline refers to the total, not every category in the inventory. Amazon reported that Scope 1 emissions increased 7%, Scope 2 emissions decreased 11%, and Scope 3 emissions decreased 5%. The available figures show different directions across categories; they do not by themselves establish which specific activities drove every change.
Why did Amazon’s emissions go down?
Bloomberg’s 2024 coverage connected part of the decline to a 13% decrease in capital-goods emissions and reported that Amazon had cut spending on new warehouses and cloud-computing data centers while working through capacity added during the pandemic. Capital goods are assets such as buildings and equipment. A pullback in new construction and infrastructure purchases can reduce emissions associated with making and building those assets.
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This is context for the reported decline, not proof that reduced spending explains all of it. Amazon’s reported total reflects multiple emissions categories, and the figures cited here do not quantify how much of the 3% change came from warehouse or data-center investment.
Absolute emissions and carbon intensity are different measures
Absolute emissions count the total greenhouse gases attributed to the company’s activities during a period. Carbon intensity relates emissions to a measure of business activity, so it can fall even when total emissions do not—or rise while total emissions fall.
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Amazon reported carbon intensity of 80.8 for 2023, compared with 93.0 for 2022, a decrease of about 13%. The company summarized the results this way: “In 2023, we lowered our carbon footprint by 3% alongside our carbon intensity which decreased 13%.” That is Amazon’s own characterization; the intensity figures are a separate measure from the absolute total of 68.82 million metric tons of CO2e.
What the 2023 result does—and does not—tell you
- It is a one-year reported change. Amazon’s 3% decline compares 2023 with 2022; it does not establish a sustained downward trend.
- Emissions categories moved differently. Scope 1 rose even as Scope 2 and Scope 3 fell, so the total decline does not mean every source decreased.
- The business explanation is partial. Bloomberg connected lower capital-goods emissions with reduced spending on warehouses and data centers, but the figures here do not assign the entire reduction to that factor.
- It is not third-party validation. The figures cited are Amazon’s disclosures. The material available here does not establish independent assurance or a regulator’s finding about the inventory.
Is Amazon’s emissions trend still falling?
The 2023 disclosure is historical, not a current emissions update. Amazon’s sustainability-report index lists reports for 2024 and 2025, so those reports are needed to assess later years. The 2023 figures alone cannot show whether emissions continued to fall.
Sources: Amazon’s 2023 Sustainability Report; Amazon’s sustainability report index; Bloomberg News’ 2024 coverage.
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