Amazon Shipment Zero

2019 Shareholder Engagement - Amazon Responds to Increased Shareholder

Pressure, Commits to Cut Delivery Emissions 50% by 2030

We wanted to share a quick update from As You Sow and Green Century's frontline work

with climate change and corporate behavior. As You Sow, in collaboration with asset

managers across the world like Green Century, proposes shareholder resolutions that urge

companies to improve their social and environmental footprint.

The below is a synopsis of the recent engagement with Amazon:

Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon) recently announced its new emission reduction initiative,

“Shipment Zero,” setting a goal to reduce the climate impact of its shipping and achieve

net zero emissions for 50% of its shipments by 2030, prompting the withdrawal of a related

shareholder proposal. As You Sow, representing Amalgamated Bank, co-filed the

resolution along with lead filer Green Century Capital Management (and co-filers Trinity

Health and the Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic of Grand Rapids.

In 2017, Amazon shipped more than 5 billion packages through its Prime program alone.

The announcement marks significant progress by the company. Amazon has long been

considered a slow-mover in addressing its monumental climate impact. Amazon said its

efforts to ultimately reach carbon neutrality with its deliveries will be aided by its

investments in electric vehicles, aviation biofuels, and renewable energy; and also hinted

towards other goals and programs that will accompany its carbon footprint disclosure.

Amazon’s new shipping target was accompanied by a commitment to publicly “share

Amazon’s company-wide carbon footprint, along with related goals and programs” by the

end of 2019. Shareholders have long requested that Amazon disclose its greenhouse gas

emissions and set targets to address them.

Green Century President Leslie Samuelrich, lead filer on this resolution said, “Amazon

really delivered on our request that it begin tracking and reducing its carbon footprint, so

we were more than happy to withdraw our proposal.” And to address the effectiveness of

shareholder proposals she said, “Amazon’s new commitment is a prime example of how

corporations can respond to investor concerns and address investor, reputational, and

environmental risk.”

Lila Holzman, energy program manager of As You Sow, had this to say about Amazon’s

announcement:

“Given the massive scale of Amazon’s climate impact, we are glad Amazon is responding

to shareholder concerns related to climate risk, and we view this new target as a

meaningful step in the right direction.”

For more information on As You Sow’s work on climate change, click here.

We are proud to partner with organizations like As You Sow and Green Century to

support the work they do. We believe that by working together, we are better able to

achieve a more sustainable future.

We hope you find this on-the-ground Shareholder Engagement story interesting and

insightful. We hope these stories can connect you to ways in which your investments

with us are advancing your values. As always, feel free to pass these articles to others

or share your comments with us!