Amazon is introducing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to its fleet as part of a new climate change commitment.
The company bought the technology from Rivian, a US-based sustainable transportation company, with the aim of getting the 100,000 vehicles on the road by 2030, saving 4 million metric tonnes of carbon per year.
Amazon plans to have 10,000 of the vehicles on the road as early as 2022.
Earlier this year Amazon invested $440 million in Rivian as part of a $700 million funding round.
The initiative is part of Amazon’s new “Climate Pledge”, which aims to reach net zero carbon across its business by 2040. The online marketplace will measure and report greenhouse gas emissions regularly, implement decarbonisation strategies including efficiency and renewable energy and neutralise remaining emissions with offset programmes.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, said: “We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue—we’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference.
“If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon—which delivers more than 10 billion items a year—can meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early, then any company can. I’ve been talking with other CEOs of global companies, and I’m finding a lot of interest in joining the pledge.
“Large companies signing The Climate Pledge will send an important signal to the market that it’s time to invest in the products and services the signatories will need to meet their commitments.”
