The key to net-zero is found in the supply chain
With the presentation of its latest Sustainability Report 2022, Amazon has not only published its current efforts and achievements on the path to net-zero, but also defined new requirements for its suppliers.
Kara Hurst, Vice President and Head of Worldwide Sustainability clarifies: "To achieve zero net CO2 emissions by 2040, Amazon must reduce its carbon footprint across our business, including our vast global supply chain."
Amazon is well on its way to achieving its set goals, according to Kara Hurst. For example, according to its annual report, about 90% of the energy it uses already comes from renewable sources, and the goal is to reach 100% by 2025. The total carbon footprint decreased by 0.4%, including Scope 3 emissions by as much as 0.7%. And that's on top of a 9% increase in sales.
With the sustainability report, new specifications are to be issued to suppliers, service providers, sales partners, clients and subcontractors specifying which data must be reported for CO2 reduction. In addition to sharing the CO2 emissions data, binding CO2 targets are also to be defined.
But the company is not leaving it at just reporting. "Our potential to impact our entire supply chain is large, as it includes building materials, transportation, engineering equipment, products and packaging. We know that to reduce our carbon footprint, we need to work with our supply chain partners to help them decarbonize their own operations."
With this announcement, Amazon is rolling out an important aspect of achieving its Net Zero goal: Taking into account all companies involved in the supply chain when calculating real-world carbon footprints. This is the effective lever to analyze and significantly reduce Scope 3 emissions. And to this end, an industry giant like Amazon is taking its entire supply chain to task in all its manifestations.
In addition to the alignment of targets and their achievement, this project requires clear structures in the calculation of carbon footprints and the frictionless and seamless transfer of data. Given the sheer volume of CO2 footprints, it is only logical that a high degree of automation and an equally high level of transparency in reporting is required within the company itself and beyond the company boundaries. The sheer lack of LCA experts needed to prepare the individual Life Cycle Assessments calls for the use of intelligent digital systems that can use machine learning to not only speed up the work but also simplify it in data handling - e.g., in Material Intelligence - allowing individual scenarios for improving emission levels to be calculated and compared more quickly.
