The Amazon x Mercedes-Benz collaboration has seen German car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz, joining ‘The Climate Pledge’, an initiative and strategy started by Amazon to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040. Amazon announced the global partnership at the end of last month, to help lead the charge in sustainability.
Amazon x Mercedes-Benz: ‘Climate Pledge’
The Amazon x Mercedes-Benz partnership will see Amazon adding more than 1,800 electric Mercedes-Benz vans to its delivery fleet across Europe this year. This is the largest electric vehicle commitment for Mercedes-Benz to date. Signatories to The Climate Pledge can share access to technologies, best practices, and innovations in supply chain enhancements.
Mercedes is the latest big name to sign the ‘Climate Pledge’, with signatories to the pledge sharing access to technologies, best practices, and innovations in supply chain enhancements. Founded in Sept 2019, Mercedes-Benz’s commitment to the pledge is to accelerate its work on the net-zero carbon on all its operations, with the aim of meeting the Paris Agreement 10 years early.
“We welcome the bold leadership demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz by signing up to The Climate Pledge and committing to ambitious action to address climate change. We need continued innovation and partnership from auto manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz to decarbonise the transportation sector and tackle the climate crisis.”
Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon
This involves ways to remove carbon from the company’s value chain, from product development to supply. The car manufacturer is also striving to ensure that its electric vehicles are powered with only renewable energies.
Amazon x Mercedes-Benz electric delivery vehicles launch
The Mercedes-Benz electric vans will begin making Amazon deliveries to customers this year, which will help the company to save thousands of metric tons of carbon. One thousand two hundred of these vans are part of the manufacturer’s eSprinter models, and 600 are its eVito vans, which were Mercedes’ first zero-emission vehicle.
“At Mercedes-Benz, we have set ourselves the ambitious target to make the transformation of mobility a success story. By joining The Climate Pledge we are building on our goal to consistently pursue emission-free mobility and sustainable vehicle production.
We stand with Amazon, Global Optimism and the other signatories of The Climate Pledge, in a commitment to being net-zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of The Paris Agreement. I am pleased that we will be able to gain even more momentum on our sustainability offensive with this step.”
Ola Kallenius, Chairman, Daimler & Mercedes-Benz
Earlier this year, Amazon also announced another three prominent signatories to The Climate Pledge:
- Telecoms giant Verizon
- Digital services and consulting firm Infosys
- Health and hygiene manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser
What other sustainable initiatives are Amazon taking?
This isn’t the first time Amazon has promoted its commitment to sustainability. They recently introduced a new packaging initiative ‘Less Packaging, More Smiles,’ in which they’ll produce recyclable delivery boxes with a built-in play factor.
In 2019, Amazon reached 42% renewable energy across its business. Shipment Zero encompasses Amazon’s eventual vision to make all shipments net-zero carbon with 50% of all shipments net-zero by 2030.
For more information on The Climate Pledge and Amazon’s other sustainability measures, you can visit their website here.
Further Reading: Electric Vehicles: Is Electric Last-Mile Delivery the Key to Sustainable eCommerce? Read More