亞馬遜公司(Amazon)的規(guī)模日益壯大,它所舉辦的“會(huì)員日”(Prime Day)購物活動(dòng),在短短兩天內(nèi)銷售額就超過了100億美元,并且迫使競爭對(duì)手紛紛效仿。
但該公司在新冠疫情期間的飛速增長,卻讓外界對(duì)它的可持續(xù)發(fā)展承諾及其在這方面的進(jìn)展產(chǎn)生了質(zhì)疑。
2019年年初,亞馬遜的創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝佐斯在位于華盛頓特區(qū)的國家新聞俱樂部(National Press Club)宣布了公司的“氣候承諾”,他表示亞馬遜致力于“為我們的客戶和地球打造可持續(xù)的業(yè)務(wù)?!?/p>
實(shí)現(xiàn)他所說的這些目標(biāo)意味著減少各個(gè)業(yè)務(wù)領(lǐng)域的碳足跡,在2040年之前實(shí)現(xiàn)碳中和,這將比《巴黎協(xié)定》(Paris Agreement)里提出的時(shí)間提前十年。貝佐斯的承諾中還包括減少運(yùn)營和自營產(chǎn)品生產(chǎn)過程以及包裝、運(yùn)輸?shù)日麄€(gè)供應(yīng)鏈的溫室氣體排放。
《財(cái)富》雜志通過評(píng)估CSRHub編制的環(huán)境、社會(huì)與治理(ESG)數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)現(xiàn),雖然亞馬遜在過去幾年確實(shí)在不斷進(jìn)步,但它依舊有完善的空間,目前在跟蹤能源消耗和二氧化碳排放的氣候變化子類別的排名中,亞馬遜依舊落后于沃爾瑪(Walmart)和阿里巴巴等競爭對(duì)手。CSRHub為全球數(shù)千家上市公司和私營公司提供企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任評(píng)級(jí)。
CSRHub最近向《財(cái)富》雜志分享的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,在環(huán)境類別中,亞馬遜的百分位排名為第63位,與2016年4月的百分位第7位相比進(jìn)步明顯。
最近,CSRHub對(duì)亞馬遜的總體評(píng)分為52分(滿分100分)。
CSRHub的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官辛西婭?菲格表示,雖然這依舊落后于沃爾瑪?shù)雀偁帉?duì)手,但已經(jīng)是顯著的改進(jìn)。
她說:“幾年前,對(duì)于一家大公司而言,他們的得分很低。隨著對(duì)這些公司的審查日益嚴(yán)格,他們加大了投入。他們?nèi)〉昧司薮筮M(jìn)步,但這是一個(gè)漫長的過程?!彼硎?,亞馬遜在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面投入了大量資源。
雖然亞馬遜逐步提高了在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面的雄心,并頻繁宣布新計(jì)劃,但行業(yè)分析師認(rèn)為,亞馬遜依舊沒有打中目標(biāo),因?yàn)樗鼪]有向供應(yīng)商和第三方賣家施加足夠的壓力,要求他們的產(chǎn)品中使用可再生材料,而且它對(duì)自己取得的進(jìn)展沒有做到公開透明。
晨星(Morningstar)旗下的環(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理研究公司Sustainalytics在最新的報(bào)告中,將亞馬遜的環(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理總體評(píng)級(jí)從中風(fēng)險(xiǎn)調(diào)整為高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。Sustainalytics表示,這個(gè)評(píng)級(jí)代表了公司“因?yàn)榄h(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理因素受到嚴(yán)重財(cái)務(wù)影響的整體風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?!?/p>
康奈爾大學(xué)(Cornell University)全球可持續(xù)企業(yè)中心(Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise)的塞繆爾?C?約翰遜教授克里斯托弗?馬奎斯稱:“鑒于亞馬遜的規(guī)模和地位,它要履行自己的諾言還需要做得更多?!彼J(rèn)為,亞馬遜可以激勵(lì)消費(fèi)者把多筆購物集中到一個(gè)訂單,從而減少包裝浪費(fèi)。
為了實(shí)現(xiàn)雄心勃勃的碳中和目標(biāo),亞馬遜計(jì)劃到2025年,公司運(yùn)營將全部采用可再生能源電力;到2030年將投放10萬輛電動(dòng)快遞車輛;所有貨物運(yùn)輸將實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零碳排放。
亞馬遜已經(jīng)說服來自16個(gè)國家的100多家公司簽署氣候承諾。這些公司來自各行各業(yè),包括聯(lián)合利華(Unilever)、微軟(Microsoft)和威瑞森(Verizon)等品牌,它們承諾在2040年之前應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化,并實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零排放。
最近,亞馬遜與Facebook和Alphabet等科技巨頭一同向美國證券交易委員會(huì)(Securities and Exchange Commission)施壓,呼吁上市公司報(bào)告各自的溫室氣體排放量。
亞馬遜的聲明顯示,該公司還為研發(fā)減排技術(shù)設(shè)立了基金,投入20億美元,并在再生林項(xiàng)目和“氣候[變化]減緩解決方案”等方面投入1億美元。
缺乏透明
但要跟蹤亞馬遜在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面取得的進(jìn)展依舊存在挑戰(zhàn),因?yàn)樗鼜奈垂歼^關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)的數(shù)據(jù),例如回收包裝使用情況、電動(dòng)快遞車輛采購情況等。
在2020年,碳信息披露項(xiàng)目(Carbon Disclosure Project)將亞馬遜評(píng)為F級(jí)。該組織經(jīng)常批評(píng)亞馬遜在氣候工作方面缺乏透明度。
亞馬遜在一份聲明中稱:“亞馬遜與世界各地的制造商合作,通過我們的簡約包裝(Frustration-Free Packaging)認(rèn)證項(xiàng)目改進(jìn)它們的產(chǎn)品包裝?!?/p>
新冠疫情放大了亞馬遜的這些不足,因?yàn)橐咔槠陂g對(duì)電子商務(wù)的需求突然大幅增加,這令亞馬遜疲于應(yīng)對(duì),其貨運(yùn)飛機(jī)和隨處可見的卡車正在世界各地派送快遞,而其云計(jì)算部門對(duì)被迫遠(yuǎn)程辦公的公司而言變得更加重要。
因此,盡管亞馬遜正在努力減少碳排放并增加利用可再生能源,但其環(huán)境足跡仍然在持續(xù)擴(kuò)大。
亞馬遜表示,公司運(yùn)營100%使用可再生能源電力的目標(biāo)將提前五年實(shí)現(xiàn),并且亞馬遜是全球最大的企業(yè)可再生能源采購方,共有206個(gè)可再生能源項(xiàng)目,包括71個(gè)市政規(guī)模的風(fēng)電和太陽能發(fā)電項(xiàng)目,以及在世界各地的生產(chǎn)設(shè)施和門店安裝的135個(gè)屋頂太陽能項(xiàng)目。
但亞馬遜在2020年披露,其業(yè)務(wù)運(yùn)營排放量較前一年增加了15%,超過5,100萬公噸二氧化碳。2月,亞馬遜開始在洛杉磯測試用于客戶配送的新型電動(dòng)汽車,并在其他多個(gè)城市增加使用電動(dòng)汽車,其目標(biāo)是到2022年投放1萬輛這款電動(dòng)汽車。亞馬遜最近還在歐洲快遞車隊(duì)中部署了1,800輛電動(dòng)貨車。
包括內(nèi)部員工在內(nèi)的批評(píng)者一直在向亞馬遜施壓,呼吁該公司大力調(diào)整公司業(yè)務(wù),他們表示進(jìn)出亞馬遜運(yùn)營中心的貨運(yùn)卡車排放,與哮喘等呼吸道疾病有關(guān)。
亞馬遜員工氣候正義組織(Amazon Employees for Climate Justice)的發(fā)言人指出:“盡管美國政府將環(huán)境正義作為其整體解決氣候危機(jī)的關(guān)鍵組成部分,但亞馬遜并沒有承認(rèn)其產(chǎn)生的污染集中在有色人種社區(qū)?!?/p>
而且分析師指出,亞馬遜的行動(dòng)缺乏力度??沙掷m(xù)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施中心(Center for Sustainable Infrastructure)的執(zhí)行主任里斯?羅斯表示:“亞馬遜要實(shí)現(xiàn)2025年的目標(biāo),必須以比全球業(yè)務(wù)增長更快的速度,加快可再生能源項(xiàng)目投資和開發(fā)?!?/p>
最近,針對(duì)其出售的數(shù)以百萬計(jì)商品的可持續(xù)性,亞馬遜擴(kuò)大了“氣候承諾友好”(Climate Pledge Friendly)計(jì)劃,只要商品獲得至少一家致力于環(huán)境問題的全球組織的認(rèn)證,就能夠添加氣候承諾友好標(biāo)記。現(xiàn)在,亞馬遜出售的帶有這個(gè)標(biāo)記的商品超過75,000種。亞馬遜還表示,其10月發(fā)布的最新款Echo和Fire TV設(shè)備使用了100%循環(huán)利用的鋁和織物以及30%至50%的回收利用塑料,并且?guī)в械湍芎哪J?,可以減少設(shè)備閑置時(shí)的能耗。亞馬遜還擴(kuò)大了電子設(shè)備維修、回收和翻新項(xiàng)目。
供應(yīng)鏈零排放
亞馬遜表示,公司可持續(xù)發(fā)展工作的重點(diǎn)是其供應(yīng)鏈,包括從供應(yīng)商和產(chǎn)品倉儲(chǔ)到庫存管理與配送等產(chǎn)品生命周期的關(guān)鍵環(huán)節(jié)。供應(yīng)鏈排放約占亞馬遜總碳足跡的80%。
亞馬遜指出,將與供應(yīng)商合作尋找解決方案,通過鼓勵(lì)使用以可持續(xù)方式生產(chǎn)的棉織品、皮革、纖維素纖維和回收材料等,減少其自營服裝的環(huán)境影響。
亞馬遜以提高透明度的名義,公布了一份供應(yīng)鏈地圖,圖中顯示了生產(chǎn)自營服裝、消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)品、食品飲料和家居用品的供應(yīng)商。2019年,亞馬遜在盡職調(diào)查中對(duì)供應(yīng)商進(jìn)行了4,082次評(píng)估,以確保它們符合亞馬遜的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。例如,根據(jù)ISS Corporate Solutions開展的一項(xiàng)評(píng)估,亞馬遜旗下的全食超市(Whole Foods)被稱贊“采取了充分措施,以確保農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)營實(shí)踐的可持續(xù)性,比如可持續(xù)的棕櫚油和水產(chǎn)養(yǎng)殖等”。
羅斯說:“如果我們的目標(biāo)是減少對(duì)地球的影響,就必須把重點(diǎn)放在產(chǎn)品生產(chǎn)和供應(yīng)鏈上游,因?yàn)檫@個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)的碳足跡遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過處置環(huán)節(jié)。如果亞馬遜能夠成為氣候承諾簽約方中的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,這將是至關(guān)重要的進(jìn)步?!?/p>
Sustainalytics公司的分析師洛克珊娜?多布雷稱,雖然亞馬遜近幾年有所改進(jìn),但依舊落后于競爭對(duì)手。她指出,在生態(tài)設(shè)計(jì)和材料使用方面,亞馬遜“表現(xiàn)不佳,無法保證其出售的商品的可持續(xù)性?!?/p>
多布雷還提到了亞馬遜在德國引起的爭議。亞馬遜被曝光對(duì)包括電子產(chǎn)品在內(nèi)的許多未出售商品,采取了銷毀處理。6月,在亞馬遜的一家英國倉庫,從新智能電視到吹風(fēng)機(jī),有數(shù)百萬件商品被銷毀,使亞馬遜登上了媒體頭條。
多布雷稱:“雖然[發(fā)生在德國的事件]是個(gè)案,但卻讓許多人對(duì)亞馬遜能否解決環(huán)境和社會(huì)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)問題產(chǎn)生了質(zhì)疑。因?yàn)樵S多同行正在計(jì)劃執(zhí)行循環(huán)商業(yè)模式?!?/p>
分析師指出,亞馬遜的可持續(xù)發(fā)展政策并沒有將第三方賣家作為重點(diǎn),但在亞馬遜平臺(tái)上,絕大部分商品都來自第三方賣家。
馬奎斯認(rèn)為,亞馬遜可以采取措施向第三方賣家施壓,例如要求“核算該平臺(tái)任何賣家的碳足跡;[亞馬遜的]算法能夠突出和推廣碳足跡較小的賣家。[亞馬遜]可以更積極地嘗試影響消費(fèi)者做出更明智的選擇,[并且]激勵(lì)消費(fèi)者將多個(gè)訂單合并配送,比如消費(fèi)者以這種方式購物能夠獲得5%的優(yōu)惠。”
在包裝方面,亞馬遜在2020年9月提出,到2023年之前其設(shè)備將100%使用可回收材料。雖然亞馬遜并未公布實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)的最新進(jìn)展,但它表示其2020年的設(shè)備包裝減少了超過2,700萬個(gè)塑料袋。但非盈利海洋倡議組織Oceana的報(bào)告稱,亞馬遜在2019年產(chǎn)生的塑料包裝垃圾依舊達(dá)到4.65億磅,其中超過2,200萬磅被直接排入了淡水和海洋生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。全世界每年生產(chǎn)的約8,600萬噸塑料包裝,超過86%沒有被回收再利用。
馬奎斯表示:“[亞馬遜]可以說:‘我們希望在某個(gè)日期之前達(dá)到完全無塑料包裝?!@將刺激全世界的無數(shù)賣家發(fā)揮創(chuàng)意,展開創(chuàng)新?!彼麑嗰R遜與Grove Collaborative等在線交易平臺(tái)進(jìn)行了對(duì)比。Grove Collaborative通過出售植物性洗碗機(jī)凝珠減少使用塑料,并對(duì)每一次貨運(yùn)使用碳抵消。
多布雷認(rèn)為,亞馬遜制定雄心勃勃的可持續(xù)發(fā)展目標(biāo),當(dāng)然值得稱贊。
她說:“他們認(rèn)識(shí)到了問題,并把它們擺在了臺(tái)面上。但他們?nèi)绾螒?yīng)對(duì)這些問題仍然是個(gè)未知數(shù)?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
亞馬遜公司(Amazon)的規(guī)模日益壯大,它所舉辦的“會(huì)員日”(Prime Day)購物活動(dòng),在短短兩天內(nèi)銷售額就超過了100億美元,并且迫使競爭對(duì)手紛紛效仿。
但該公司在新冠疫情期間的飛速增長,卻讓外界對(duì)它的可持續(xù)發(fā)展承諾及其在這方面的進(jìn)展產(chǎn)生了質(zhì)疑。
2019年年初,亞馬遜的創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝佐斯在位于華盛頓特區(qū)的國家新聞俱樂部(National Press Club)宣布了公司的“氣候承諾”,他表示亞馬遜致力于“為我們的客戶和地球打造可持續(xù)的業(yè)務(wù)?!?/p>
實(shí)現(xiàn)他所說的這些目標(biāo)意味著減少各個(gè)業(yè)務(wù)領(lǐng)域的碳足跡,在2040年之前實(shí)現(xiàn)碳中和,這將比《巴黎協(xié)定》(Paris Agreement)里提出的時(shí)間提前十年。貝佐斯的承諾中還包括減少運(yùn)營和自營產(chǎn)品生產(chǎn)過程以及包裝、運(yùn)輸?shù)日麄€(gè)供應(yīng)鏈的溫室氣體排放。
《財(cái)富》雜志通過評(píng)估CSRHub編制的環(huán)境、社會(huì)與治理(ESG)數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)現(xiàn),雖然亞馬遜在過去幾年確實(shí)在不斷進(jìn)步,但它依舊有完善的空間,目前在跟蹤能源消耗和二氧化碳排放的氣候變化子類別的排名中,亞馬遜依舊落后于沃爾瑪(Walmart)和阿里巴巴等競爭對(duì)手。CSRHub為全球數(shù)千家上市公司和私營公司提供企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任評(píng)級(jí)。
CSRHub最近向《財(cái)富》雜志分享的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,在環(huán)境類別中,亞馬遜的百分位排名為第63位,與2016年4月的百分位第7位相比進(jìn)步明顯。
最近,CSRHub對(duì)亞馬遜的總體評(píng)分為52分(滿分100分)。
CSRHub的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官辛西婭?菲格表示,雖然這依舊落后于沃爾瑪?shù)雀偁帉?duì)手,但已經(jīng)是顯著的改進(jìn)。
她說:“幾年前,對(duì)于一家大公司而言,他們的得分很低。隨著對(duì)這些公司的審查日益嚴(yán)格,他們加大了投入。他們?nèi)〉昧司薮筮M(jìn)步,但這是一個(gè)漫長的過程?!彼硎?,亞馬遜在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面投入了大量資源。
雖然亞馬遜逐步提高了在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面的雄心,并頻繁宣布新計(jì)劃,但行業(yè)分析師認(rèn)為,亞馬遜依舊沒有打中目標(biāo),因?yàn)樗鼪]有向供應(yīng)商和第三方賣家施加足夠的壓力,要求他們的產(chǎn)品中使用可再生材料,而且它對(duì)自己取得的進(jìn)展沒有做到公開透明。
晨星(Morningstar)旗下的環(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理研究公司Sustainalytics在最新的報(bào)告中,將亞馬遜的環(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理總體評(píng)級(jí)從中風(fēng)險(xiǎn)調(diào)整為高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。Sustainalytics表示,這個(gè)評(píng)級(jí)代表了公司“因?yàn)榄h(huán)境、社會(huì)和治理因素受到嚴(yán)重財(cái)務(wù)影響的整體風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?!?/p>
康奈爾大學(xué)(Cornell University)全球可持續(xù)企業(yè)中心(Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise)的塞繆爾?C?約翰遜教授克里斯托弗?馬奎斯稱:“鑒于亞馬遜的規(guī)模和地位,它要履行自己的諾言還需要做得更多?!彼J(rèn)為,亞馬遜可以激勵(lì)消費(fèi)者把多筆購物集中到一個(gè)訂單,從而減少包裝浪費(fèi)。
為了實(shí)現(xiàn)雄心勃勃的碳中和目標(biāo),亞馬遜計(jì)劃到2025年,公司運(yùn)營將全部采用可再生能源電力;到2030年將投放10萬輛電動(dòng)快遞車輛;所有貨物運(yùn)輸將實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零碳排放。
亞馬遜已經(jīng)說服來自16個(gè)國家的100多家公司簽署氣候承諾。這些公司來自各行各業(yè),包括聯(lián)合利華(Unilever)、微軟(Microsoft)和威瑞森(Verizon)等品牌,它們承諾在2040年之前應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化,并實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零排放。
最近,亞馬遜與Facebook和Alphabet等科技巨頭一同向美國證券交易委員會(huì)(Securities and Exchange Commission)施壓,呼吁上市公司報(bào)告各自的溫室氣體排放量。
亞馬遜的聲明顯示,該公司還為研發(fā)減排技術(shù)設(shè)立了基金,投入20億美元,并在再生林項(xiàng)目和“氣候[變化]減緩解決方案”等方面投入1億美元。
缺乏透明
但要跟蹤亞馬遜在可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面取得的進(jìn)展依舊存在挑戰(zhàn),因?yàn)樗鼜奈垂歼^關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)的數(shù)據(jù),例如回收包裝使用情況、電動(dòng)快遞車輛采購情況等。
在2020年,碳信息披露項(xiàng)目(Carbon Disclosure Project)將亞馬遜評(píng)為F級(jí)。該組織經(jīng)常批評(píng)亞馬遜在氣候工作方面缺乏透明度。
亞馬遜在一份聲明中稱:“亞馬遜與世界各地的制造商合作,通過我們的簡約包裝(Frustration-Free Packaging)認(rèn)證項(xiàng)目改進(jìn)它們的產(chǎn)品包裝。”
新冠疫情放大了亞馬遜的這些不足,因?yàn)橐咔槠陂g對(duì)電子商務(wù)的需求突然大幅增加,這令亞馬遜疲于應(yīng)對(duì),其貨運(yùn)飛機(jī)和隨處可見的卡車正在世界各地派送快遞,而其云計(jì)算部門對(duì)被迫遠(yuǎn)程辦公的公司而言變得更加重要。
因此,盡管亞馬遜正在努力減少碳排放并增加利用可再生能源,但其環(huán)境足跡仍然在持續(xù)擴(kuò)大。
亞馬遜表示,公司運(yùn)營100%使用可再生能源電力的目標(biāo)將提前五年實(shí)現(xiàn),并且亞馬遜是全球最大的企業(yè)可再生能源采購方,共有206個(gè)可再生能源項(xiàng)目,包括71個(gè)市政規(guī)模的風(fēng)電和太陽能發(fā)電項(xiàng)目,以及在世界各地的生產(chǎn)設(shè)施和門店安裝的135個(gè)屋頂太陽能項(xiàng)目。
但亞馬遜在2020年披露,其業(yè)務(wù)運(yùn)營排放量較前一年增加了15%,超過5,100萬公噸二氧化碳。2月,亞馬遜開始在洛杉磯測試用于客戶配送的新型電動(dòng)汽車,并在其他多個(gè)城市增加使用電動(dòng)汽車,其目標(biāo)是到2022年投放1萬輛這款電動(dòng)汽車。亞馬遜最近還在歐洲快遞車隊(duì)中部署了1,800輛電動(dòng)貨車。
包括內(nèi)部員工在內(nèi)的批評(píng)者一直在向亞馬遜施壓,呼吁該公司大力調(diào)整公司業(yè)務(wù),他們表示進(jìn)出亞馬遜運(yùn)營中心的貨運(yùn)卡車排放,與哮喘等呼吸道疾病有關(guān)。
亞馬遜員工氣候正義組織(Amazon Employees for Climate Justice)的發(fā)言人指出:“盡管美國政府將環(huán)境正義作為其整體解決氣候危機(jī)的關(guān)鍵組成部分,但亞馬遜并沒有承認(rèn)其產(chǎn)生的污染集中在有色人種社區(qū)?!?/p>
而且分析師指出,亞馬遜的行動(dòng)缺乏力度??沙掷m(xù)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施中心(Center for Sustainable Infrastructure)的執(zhí)行主任里斯?羅斯表示:“亞馬遜要實(shí)現(xiàn)2025年的目標(biāo),必須以比全球業(yè)務(wù)增長更快的速度,加快可再生能源項(xiàng)目投資和開發(fā)。”
最近,針對(duì)其出售的數(shù)以百萬計(jì)商品的可持續(xù)性,亞馬遜擴(kuò)大了“氣候承諾友好”(Climate Pledge Friendly)計(jì)劃,只要商品獲得至少一家致力于環(huán)境問題的全球組織的認(rèn)證,就能夠添加氣候承諾友好標(biāo)記?,F(xiàn)在,亞馬遜出售的帶有這個(gè)標(biāo)記的商品超過75,000種。亞馬遜還表示,其10月發(fā)布的最新款Echo和Fire TV設(shè)備使用了100%循環(huán)利用的鋁和織物以及30%至50%的回收利用塑料,并且?guī)в械湍芎哪J?,可以減少設(shè)備閑置時(shí)的能耗。亞馬遜還擴(kuò)大了電子設(shè)備維修、回收和翻新項(xiàng)目。
供應(yīng)鏈零排放
亞馬遜表示,公司可持續(xù)發(fā)展工作的重點(diǎn)是其供應(yīng)鏈,包括從供應(yīng)商和產(chǎn)品倉儲(chǔ)到庫存管理與配送等產(chǎn)品生命周期的關(guān)鍵環(huán)節(jié)。供應(yīng)鏈排放約占亞馬遜總碳足跡的80%。
亞馬遜指出,將與供應(yīng)商合作尋找解決方案,通過鼓勵(lì)使用以可持續(xù)方式生產(chǎn)的棉織品、皮革、纖維素纖維和回收材料等,減少其自營服裝的環(huán)境影響。
亞馬遜以提高透明度的名義,公布了一份供應(yīng)鏈地圖,圖中顯示了生產(chǎn)自營服裝、消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)品、食品飲料和家居用品的供應(yīng)商。2019年,亞馬遜在盡職調(diào)查中對(duì)供應(yīng)商進(jìn)行了4,082次評(píng)估,以確保它們符合亞馬遜的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。例如,根據(jù)ISS Corporate Solutions開展的一項(xiàng)評(píng)估,亞馬遜旗下的全食超市(Whole Foods)被稱贊“采取了充分措施,以確保農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)營實(shí)踐的可持續(xù)性,比如可持續(xù)的棕櫚油和水產(chǎn)養(yǎng)殖等”。
羅斯說:“如果我們的目標(biāo)是減少對(duì)地球的影響,就必須把重點(diǎn)放在產(chǎn)品生產(chǎn)和供應(yīng)鏈上游,因?yàn)檫@個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)的碳足跡遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過處置環(huán)節(jié)。如果亞馬遜能夠成為氣候承諾簽約方中的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,這將是至關(guān)重要的進(jìn)步?!?/p>
Sustainalytics公司的分析師洛克珊娜?多布雷稱,雖然亞馬遜近幾年有所改進(jìn),但依舊落后于競爭對(duì)手。她指出,在生態(tài)設(shè)計(jì)和材料使用方面,亞馬遜“表現(xiàn)不佳,無法保證其出售的商品的可持續(xù)性?!?/p>
多布雷還提到了亞馬遜在德國引起的爭議。亞馬遜被曝光對(duì)包括電子產(chǎn)品在內(nèi)的許多未出售商品,采取了銷毀處理。6月,在亞馬遜的一家英國倉庫,從新智能電視到吹風(fēng)機(jī),有數(shù)百萬件商品被銷毀,使亞馬遜登上了媒體頭條。
多布雷稱:“雖然[發(fā)生在德國的事件]是個(gè)案,但卻讓許多人對(duì)亞馬遜能否解決環(huán)境和社會(huì)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)問題產(chǎn)生了質(zhì)疑。因?yàn)樵S多同行正在計(jì)劃執(zhí)行循環(huán)商業(yè)模式?!?/p>
分析師指出,亞馬遜的可持續(xù)發(fā)展政策并沒有將第三方賣家作為重點(diǎn),但在亞馬遜平臺(tái)上,絕大部分商品都來自第三方賣家。
馬奎斯認(rèn)為,亞馬遜可以采取措施向第三方賣家施壓,例如要求“核算該平臺(tái)任何賣家的碳足跡;[亞馬遜的]算法能夠突出和推廣碳足跡較小的賣家。[亞馬遜]可以更積極地嘗試影響消費(fèi)者做出更明智的選擇,[并且]激勵(lì)消費(fèi)者將多個(gè)訂單合并配送,比如消費(fèi)者以這種方式購物能夠獲得5%的優(yōu)惠。”
在包裝方面,亞馬遜在2020年9月提出,到2023年之前其設(shè)備將100%使用可回收材料。雖然亞馬遜并未公布實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)的最新進(jìn)展,但它表示其2020年的設(shè)備包裝減少了超過2,700萬個(gè)塑料袋。但非盈利海洋倡議組織Oceana的報(bào)告稱,亞馬遜在2019年產(chǎn)生的塑料包裝垃圾依舊達(dá)到4.65億磅,其中超過2,200萬磅被直接排入了淡水和海洋生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。全世界每年生產(chǎn)的約8,600萬噸塑料包裝,超過86%沒有被回收再利用。
馬奎斯表示:“[亞馬遜]可以說:‘我們希望在某個(gè)日期之前達(dá)到完全無塑料包裝?!@將刺激全世界的無數(shù)賣家發(fā)揮創(chuàng)意,展開創(chuàng)新?!彼麑嗰R遜與Grove Collaborative等在線交易平臺(tái)進(jìn)行了對(duì)比。Grove Collaborative通過出售植物性洗碗機(jī)凝珠減少使用塑料,并對(duì)每一次貨運(yùn)使用碳抵消。
多布雷認(rèn)為,亞馬遜制定雄心勃勃的可持續(xù)發(fā)展目標(biāo),當(dāng)然值得稱贊。
她說:“他們認(rèn)識(shí)到了問題,并把它們擺在了臺(tái)面上。但他們?nèi)绾螒?yīng)對(duì)這些問題仍然是個(gè)未知數(shù)?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
Amazon is bigger than ever, commanding a Prime Day shopping event that has forced the competition to follow suit and was expected to bring in over $10 billion in just two days.
But the company’s astronomical growth throughout the pandemic has raised questions about its sustainability commitments and the progress it’s making.
In early 2019, its founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, unveiled the Climate Pledge at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., announcing the company’s commitment to “building a sustainable business for our customers and the planet.”
Achieving these stated goals would mean shrinking its carbon footprint across all of its businesses to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement’s timeline. The pledge also included reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and in the making of its own products, including packaging and shipping, as well as across its supply chain.
Fortune’s review of ESG data compiled by CSRHub—which provides corporate social responsibility ratings for thousands of public and private companies worldwide—shows that while Amazon has in fact been making progress over the past several years, it still has room for improvement and currently ranks behind competitors such as Walmart and Alibaba in the climate change subcategory, which tracks energy use and CO2 emissions.
In the environmental category, Amazon has reached the 63rd percentile, a significant improvement from its position in the seventh percentile back in April 2016, according to the most recent CSRHub data shared with Fortune.
Most recently CSRHub gave Amazon an overall score of 52 out of 100.
That’s a significant improvement, said CSRHub cofounder and CEO Cynthia Figge, though it lags Walmart and other competitors.
“A few years ago, they were as low as you get for a major corporation. But as they’ve gotten a lot more scrutiny, they’ve upped their game,” she said, noting that Amazon has put significant resources into its sustainability initiatives. “They’ve come a long way, and it is a journey.”
As the company’s sustainability approach has grown more ambitious, with frequent announcements about new initiatives, industry analysts say Amazon still misses the mark because it isn’t putting enough pressure on its suppliers and third-party sellers to use renewable materials in their products, and it isn’t transparent enough about the progress it is making.
The company’s overall ESG rating was downgraded from medium risk to high risk by Sustainalytics, an ESG research firm owned by Morningstar, in its most recent report. The rating indicates the company’s “overall risk of experiencing material financial impact due to ESG factors,” Sustainalytics noted.
“Given their size and prominence, they could do more if they really wanted to walk the talk,” said Christopher Marquis, the Samuel C. Johnson Professor in Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University, adding that the company could incentivize consumers to group their purchases into a single order to reduce packaging waste.
To achieve its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality, the tech giant aims to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025; place 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030; and make all of its shipments net-zero carbon.
It has persuaded more than 100 companies across multiple industries in 16 countries, including brands like Unilever, Microsoft, and Verizon, to sign the Climate Pledge, each one committing to address climate change and reach net-zero emissions by 2040.
More recently, it joined other tech giants such as Facebook and Alphabet in pressuring the Securities and Exchange Commission to make companies report their greenhouse gas emissions.
Amazon has also set up funds to invest $2 billion in the development of technology that reduces emissions and $100 million in reforestation projects and “climate [change] mitigation solutions,” according to a company statement.
Lack of transparency
Still, it’s challenging to track the progress Amazon is making on sustainability, because the company has yet to release numbers on key metrics, from its use of recycled packaging to its purchase of electric delivery vehicles.
The company received an F grade from the Carbon Disclosure Project watchdog group in 2020, which has routinely criticized its lack of transparency on climate efforts.
"Amazon works with manufacturers worldwide to help improve their packaging through our Frustration-Free Packaging certification program," the company said in a statement.
The pandemic has amplified these shortcomings, as Amazon scrambled to meet the unexpected surge in demand for e-commerce, with cargo jets and its ubiquitous trucks making still more deliveries around the world and its cloud computing division all the more crucial to businesses forced to work remotely.
As a result, its environmental footprint keeps growing despite the measures it’s taking to reduce emissions and tap renewable energy sources.
Amazon indicated it’s five years early on its path to achieve the goal of powering its operations with 100% renewable energy, adding that it’s the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally, with a total of 206 renewable energy projects, including 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide.
But it disclosed in 2020 that emissions from its business operations increased 15% from the prior year, to more than 51 million metric tons of CO2. In February, however, it began testing its new electric vehicles via customer deliveries in Los Angeles and has since expanded its use of EVs in a number of other cities, with the aim of putting 10,000 such vehicles on the road by 2022. Amazon also recently deployed 1,800 electric vans as part of its European delivery fleet.
Critics, including its own employees, have pressured the company to do more to revamp its business operations, noting that vehicle emissions from freight trucks coming and going from Amazon fulfillment centers are associated with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
“Even as the United States government includes environmental justice as a critical part of solving the climate crisis at large, Amazon has yet to acknowledge that its pollution is concentrated in communities of color,” noted a spokesperson for Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.
And analysts say the pace may not be aggressive enough. “To reach that 2025 goal, they’ll have to accelerate renewable-energy project investment and developments far faster than global operations growth,” said Rhys Roth, executive director at the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure.
As for the sustainability of the millions of products it sells, Amazon recently expanded a program that marks items as Climate Pledge Friendly, if they are certified by at least one of several worldwide organizations focused on environmental issues; the company now offers more than 75,000 such products. Amazon also noted that the latest Echo and Fire TV devices released in October contain 100% recycled aluminum and fabric and 30% to 50% recycled plastic and feature a low-power mode to reduce energy consumption when the devices aren’t in use. The company has in addition expanded its program for repairing, recycling, and refurbishing its electronic devices.
Zeroing in on the supply chain
Amazon said it’s also focusing its sustainability efforts on its supply chain—the key components of a product’s life cycle from suppliers and product warehousing to inventory management and delivery. Supply chain emissions are estimated to make up 80% of total footprint.
The company said it’s reducing the environmental impact of its own Amazon-branded apparel by working with suppliers to find solutions that promote the use of sustainably produced cotton, leather, and cellulosic fibers as well as recycled materials.
And in the name of transparency, Amazon released a supply chain map showing the suppliers that produce its apparel, consumer electronics, food and beverage, and home goods items. In 2019 it conducted 4,082 assessments of suppliers as part of its due diligence, ensuring that they are adhering to Amazon’s standards. Amazon-owned Whole Foods, for example, was recently credited for taking “adequate measures to ensure sustainable agricultural business practices, e.g., regarding sustainable palm oil and aquaculture,” according to an assessment conducted by ISS Corporate Solutions.
“If our goal is to reduce the impact on the planet, we have to focus on product manufacturing and the supply chain upstream, which is a greater part of the carbon footprint than disposal,” said Roth. “And if Amazon can be a leader among the Climate Pledge signers, that is a really important step forward.”
Though Amazon has improved in recent years, it still ranks behind competitors, noted Roxana Dobre, an analyst for Sustainalytics, adding that Amazon does “not perform very well when it comes to ensuring that they have sustainable products they sell,” both in terms of eco design and use of materials.
Dobre also noted a recent controversy in Germany, where Amazon was caught destroying unsold electronics, among other items. And in June, the company made headlines when millions of items in a British warehouse, from new smart TVs to hair dryers, were marked for destruction.
“[The incident in Germany] was an isolated event, but it raises a lot of questions about whether Amazon is able to deal with E&S [environmental and social standards]. Because a lot of their peers are looking into implementing the circular business model,” she said.
Analysts note that Amazon’s sustainability policy has yet to focus on third-party sellers, the source of a majority of products on its platform.
The company could take steps to pressure those sellers by requiring “an accounting of the carbon footprint of anyone that sells on the platform; [Amazon’s] algorithms could enhance and promote those that have a smaller footprint,” said Marquis. “[The company] could be more proactive in trying to shape consumers to make smarter choices, [and give] incentives to consumers to group certain orders into one delivery and one package, and you save 5% on your purchase, for example.”
In terms of packaging, Amazon set a goal in September 2020 of using 100% recyclable materials for its devices by 2023. Though it has not yet released an update on the progress it’s making to achieve that goal, Amazon said it had eliminated over 27 million plastic bags from its devices packaging in 2020. Still, the company was responsible for 465 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2019, according to a report from nonprofit ocean advocacy group Oceana, which also estimated that more than 22 million pounds of this waste was funneled directly into freshwater and marine ecosystems. Overall, more than 86% of the nearly 86 million tons of plastic packaging produced in the world each year is not recycled.
“[Amazon] could say, ‘We want to be totally plastic-free by a certain date.’ Think about the creativity and innovation that would spur in the world among their millions of sellers,” noted Marquis, comparing the company with an online marketplace such as Grove Collaborative, which is reducing its use of plastic by selling plant-based dishwasher pods and uses carbon offsets for every shipment it makes.
It’s laudable that Amazon has set such ambitious sustainability goals, according to Dobre.
“They’re acknowledging the issue and that they have a place at the table,” she noted. “But what they’re going to do with that is still unknown.”