Thousands of Amazon employees demand company delivers bolder climate action

Over 4,000 Amazon employees have called on the company to step up its climate change response in an open letter criticising the vagueness of the tech giant's environmental commitments and demanding more radical action.

The letter, which describes climate change as an "existential threat", calls on Amazon to develop a "company-wide plan" to achieve zero carbon emissions and strengthen existing decarbonisation goals.

Echoing recent criticism from campaigners, the letter highlights how Amazon's current goal to secure 100 per cent renewable power for its data centres does not have a date for completion.

It also questions the effectiveness of Amazon's recent flagship Shipment Zero programme, which aims to make 50 per cent of all the firm's shipments net-zero emission by 2030. The project is expected to result in a huge increase in Amazon's use of electric vehicles and other low emission technologies, but the letter argues that at current growth rates "reaching net-zero shipments by 2030 could still be an increase in emissions compared to today".

Amazon has unveiled a number of climate goals in recent years. As well as pledges such as shipment zero and zero carbon energy for its data centres, it has committed to substantial investments in renewable energy and earlier this week announced it will support three new wind energy projects capable of delivering more than 670,000 megawatt hours per year.

But the firm has also faced fierce criticism for not being transparent about its plans and lagging behind some of its technology industry peers in setting ambitious targets.

This week's announcement of support for new wind farms was the first new renewable energy commitment in two years and the firm's silence on the matter led Greenpeace to recently accuse it of having "abandoned its commitment to renewable energy."

The employees' letter also calls for greater clarity from Amazon on its work to cut greenhouse gas emissions, arguing it should deliver clear "public goals and timelines consistent with science and the IPCC report." It adds that the firm should pursue "a complete transition away from fossil fuels rather than relying on carbon offsets."

The letter urges Amazon's board to adopt a shareholder resolution tabled late last year which would force the firm to develop a plan to reduce its carbon footprint. The resolution could be voted on as early as next month.

Amazon did not comment directly on the letter, but spokesperson Sam Kennedy defended the firm's climate change strategy in a statement.

"Earlier this year, we announced that we will share our company-wide carbon footprint, along with related goals and programs," he said. "In operations alone, we have over 200 scientists, engineers, and product designers dedicated exclusively to inventing new ways to leverage our scale for the good of customers and the planet. We have a long term commitment to powering our global infrastructure using 100 per cent renewable energy."

The letter was published the same day that tech rival Apple announced it has almost doubled the number of suppliers who have committed to run their production for the firm on 100 per cent renewable energy. The new commitments mean the firm has already exceeded its goal to bring 4GW of renewable energy into its supply chain by 2020.