2023-05-29 08:12:07
A leaked email reveals that Amazon’s own employees are unhappy with the company’s climate policy. A group of workers accuses Amazon of actively contributing to the acceleration of the climate crisis. The email highlights the frustration and concerns these workers have about Amazon’s environmental impact. In particular, the group lists five areas of concern regarding the climate initiatives of the world leader in e-commerce. In addition, the group plans to strike this week in order to protest against this situation.
According to reports published in 2022, Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions have greatly increased the previous year, despite the company’s efforts to portray itself as a leader in climate action. Its carbon dioxide emissions would have increased by 18% in 2021 compared to 2020. Amazon would have generated 71.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2021, almost the pollution that 180 gas-fired power plants can produce every year. The company’s CO2 pollution rose sharply after it publicly pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
Some employees of the company seem exasperated by the situation and have decided to organize a protest march this week. The walkout, scheduled for May 31, is being organized by an affinity group called Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. It is part of a larger walkout of at least 1,000 employees that day to protest other issues, such as Amazon’s back-to-office policy and recent layoffs. (According to reports from last month, the e-commerce giant has laid off nearly 30,000 employees since last November.)
According to the leaked email, some Amazon employees think that the company’s current practices and strategies are exacerbating the climate crisis rather than mitigating it. They believe that society’s continued reliance on fossil fuels and inefficient transportation systems directly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. Protest organizers are encouraging employees to join the walkout by highlighting five areas of concern about Amazon’s climate initiatives. Here is what the email says:
- increasing missions : Amazon’s missions have increased by 40% since the announcement in 2019 of the company’s climate commitment;
- deception in reports : we radically underestimate our missions. It’s intentional. It is a deception for us and for the public;
- partnership with major oil companies : AWS Al and machine learning are used by major oil companies to dramatically accelerate the discovery and extraction of oil and gas. Example: “production optimization, “wells, platforms and pipelines”;
- repeal of clean energy legislation : This bill would have required Amazon’s data centers to run on 100% renewable energy by 2040;
- disproportionate harm to communities of color : Amazon is opening most of its warehouses in neighborhoods with a disproportionate number of people of color.
In 2019, Jeff Bezos, then CEO of Amazon, announced that the company plans to achieve zero CO2 emissions for its operations by 2040. Unfortunately, surveys have found that this kind of commitment allows companies to get away with misleading carbon accounting. They can aim for “net zero” emissions or claim to be “carbon neutral” by purchasing carbon offsets that are supposed to offset the impact of their emissions through purportedly environmentally friendly projects. This is usually to plant trees, protect forests or promote clean energy.
But these offsets don’t usually translate into real reductions in the CO2 that’s warming the planet and building up in our atmosphere. Still in 2019, Amazon a cofond an initiative called the “Climate Pledge” to recruit other companies to make similar commitments to reduce CO2 emissions and “neutralize” the remaining emissions with “credible” offsets. But a significant impact on the climate is only possible if a company gets rid of the vast majority of its pollution, or even eliminates all of its emissions. Amazon missions tend to increase.
A survey conducted by Reveal last year found that Amazon grossly underestimates its carbon footprint by only reporting carbon emissions for its own Amazon-branded products, which account for about 1% of Amazon’s online sales. Additionally, Amazon is among the companies benefiting from lucrative cloud contracts bought by Big Oil suppliers, while the company helped defeat a bill in Oregon that would have mandated 100% data usage. renewable energy by 2040. Amazon is also accused of willfully harming people of color.
The company would build much of its warehouses in low-income neighborhoods where more people of color live. Amazon spokesman Brad Glasser told Insider (who obtained the leaked email) that the tech giant had plans in place to reduce emissions by 2040 in “s striving to use 100% renewable energy, transforming and decarbonizing its transportation network with electric vehicles and alternative fuels, using more sustainable building materials and reducing packaging waste.
Glasser challenged Reveal’s report and refuted claims that Amazon was understating its missions. Amazon regularly reports its carbon footprint and follows the guidelines of the “Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard”, in addition to receiving assurance from an independent third party, Ernst & Young and APEX, in compliance with ISO 14064- 3 of the International Organization for Standardization,” he said. On Amazon’s collaboration with Big Oil, Glasser said, “The energy sector should have access to the same technologies as other sectors.”
Asked about the Oregon bill, Glasser said: A number of organizations, including Amazon, opposed HB2816 because the bill did not address building the electrical infrastructure that is needed. to bring more clean energy to the network. Finally, in response to the allegation that the majority of the company’s warehouses are located in communities of color, he noted that Amazon’s facilities are built in warehouse zones and that “the company weighs a variety of factors before buying, building or leasing the warehouses”.
And you ?
What is your opinion on the subject?
What do you think of the allegations made by Amazon employees?
What do you think of the increase in CO2 emissions from Amazon despite the company’s commitment to reduce them?
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