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. 

SHIP IT 0의 진술

“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.

해운 산업의 오염 문제

전 세계 해운 산업에서 차지하는 비중은 3% 전 세계 기후 배출량의 3%를 차지하며, 이는 전 세계 항공 여행보다 더 많은 양입니다. 해운업이 국가라면 세계에서 6번째로 큰 기후 오염원이 될 것입니다. 그러나 해운 업계는 유엔 파리 협정에서 탈퇴한 이후 다른 부문보다 배출량을 줄이기 위한 노력이 더디게 진행되어 왔습니다.

대략 90% 세계 무역의 약 90%가 해상으로 운송되며, 현재와 같은 비즈니스 시나리오에서는 배출량이 최대 50% 증가할 것으로 예상됩니다. 국제해사기구는 선박의 크기가 커지고 연료 효율성을 높이기 위한 운영 개선으로 배출 강도가 감소했지만, 연간 절대 배출량은 여전히 증가하고 있다고 지적했습니다.

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Ship It Zero는 세계 최대 기업들이 100% 무공해 해상 운송으로 전환하도록 유도하는 기후 및 공중 보건 캠페인입니다. 이 캠페인은 월마트, 홈디포, 아마존, 타겟, 이케아 등의 기업이 2030년까지 100% 무공해 화물 운송 선박으로 전환할 것을 촉구합니다. 이 목표는 과학자들이 기후 위기로 인한 최악의 결과를 피하기 위해 필요하다고 말하는 지구 온난화를 섭씨 1.5도 이하로 유지하는 데 해운 업계가 공정한 몫을 할 수 있도록 보장할 것입니다.

미디어 연락처:

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)