Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during his news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday. Bezos announced the Climate Pledge, setting a goal to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during his news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday. Bezos announced the Climate Pledge, setting a goal to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Amazon vows to cut emissions to combat climate change

The announcement comes on the eve of tomorrow’s Global Climate Strike.

  • By JOSEPH PISANI and BANI SAPRA AP Business Writers
  • Thursday, September 19, 2019 10:13am
  • Business

By Joseph Pisani and Bani Sapra / Associated Press

NEW YORK — Amazon, which delivers more than 10 billion items a year on fuel-guzzling planes, vans and trucks, vowed Thursday to cut the amount of damage it does to the environment and report its greenhouse gas emissions regularly.

The online shopping giant has been facing pressure from its own employees to do more to combat climate change and rely less on fossil fuels.

To cut emissions, Amazon says it has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans that will start hitting the road in 2021. And it plans to have 100% of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030. That’s up from 40% today.

The announcement comes a day before more than 1,500 Amazon employees pledged to walk off their jobs as part of the Global Climate Strike, in which thousands of people around the world will protest climate change.

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