SEATTLE (May 26, 2023) — Business Insider has reported that Amazon has ditched part of its climate pledge and deleted its blog post that announced the Shipment Zero initiative. Instead of continuing to target to make all of its shipments net zero carbon, with 50% of all shipments net zero by 2030, Amazon has ditched this commitment and rolled broader goals into its “Climate Pledge” — with a goal to reach net zero carbon across all its operations by 2040, which according to Business Insider is a decade later than the 50% “Shipment Zero” goal. Shipping emissions are a significant source of scope 3 carbon emissions,which are defined as those resulting from activities not owned or controlled by a company. Bold steps toward shipping decarbonization are necessary for any retailer to become emission-free.

According to the University of Washington, Amazon shipped an estimated 7.7 billion packages globally, based on its nearly $470 billion in sales in 2021. If each of these packages were a 1-foot square box and they were stacked on top of one another, the pile would be six times higher than the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Backing down on its shipping and climate commitments is a significant and worrying prospect. 

シップイットゼロ

“We are disappointed to learn that Amazon has ditched their shipping commitments and watered down their Climate Pledge,” said Eric Leveridge, Ship It Zero Lead, Pacific Environment. “Amazon is uniquely situated to be a climate leader at a time when we need it the most, and committing to concrete interim goals are necessary to spur change.We call on Amazon to recommit to cleaning up its shipping act, and commit to zero-emissions ocean shipping by 2030.”

“We are concerned to hear that Amazon is backing off its previous commitments to cleaning up shipping throughout its operation, including ocean shipping. We need big retailers to increase their targets to achieve 100% zero-emission shipping by 2030.  Not back off of their previous commitments. They must act now and rapidly clean up shipping to ensure a healthier, cleaner tomorrow for our communities and our oceans and we fully intend to hold any retailer accountable that strays from this path,” said Kendra Ulrich, Shipping Campaigns Director for Stand.earth.

海運業における公害問題

世界の海運業が占める 3%を占めており、これは世界の航空旅行よりも多い。海運が国であったなら、世界第6位の気候汚染者である。しかし、海運業は国連のパリ協定から自ら交渉して脱退したため、海運業における排出量削減の取り組みは他のセクターに比べて遅れている。

約 90%世界の貿易の約90％は海上輸送であり、現在のビジネス・アズ・ユージュアル・シナリオでは、排出量が最大で50％増加すると予測されています。 50%排出量は2018年比で最大50％増加すると予測されています。国際海事機関（IMO）は、船舶の大型化や燃費向上を目指した運航改善により、排出原単位は減少していると指摘していますが、年間絶対排出量は依然として増加しています。

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Ship It Zeroは、世界の大企業を100％ゼロエミッションの海上輸送に移行させるための気候変動と公衆衛生のキャンペーンです。ウォルマート、ホームデポ、アマゾン、ターゲット、イケアなどの企業に対し、2030年までに100％ゼロエミッションの貨物輸送船に移行するよう求めています。この目標は、科学者が気候危機の最悪の結果を回避するために必要とする目標である1.5度未満の地球温暖化を維持するために、海運業界が公平に貢献することを保証するものです。

メディア連絡先

Gwen Dobbs, Communications Campaign Director, Pacific Environment, gdobbs@pacificenvironment.org, (202) 329-9295 (Pacific Time)

Shane Reese, Corporate Campaigns Media Director, Stand.earth, shane.reese@stand.earth, (919) 339-3785 (Eastern Time)