Acknowledging a steady drumbeat of criticism from activists and a vocal group of his own employees, Amazon.com Inc. founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos announced the formation of a new organization, the Climate Pledge, to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement 10 years early.
In a joint press conference in Washington with Christiana Figueres, formerly the United Nation’s executive secretary for climate change, Bezos said Amazon will reach 80% renewable energy use by 2024 and 100% by 2030, up from 40% today. To help get there, Amazon has placed an order of 100,000 electric vehicles from a startup it has backed, Rivian Automotive Inc. The first Rivian vehicles will arrive in 2021.
