Concerns are mounting over the impact of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Jeff Bezos‘s $10 billion charitable organization on the carbon credit market.
What Happened: The Bezos Earth Fund is a significant supporter of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which sets voluntary climate standards for corporations such as Apple Inc. and H&M. Simultaneously, Amazon is broadening its climate pledge initiative, which has been endorsed by over 500 companies, including Uber Technologies Inc., IBM, and Microsoft Corp., reported Financial Times on Sunday.
There are concerns about Amazon and the Bezos fund’s potential influence on SBTi, especially as SBTi reconsiders its approach to carbon offsets. A former SBTi staff member filed a complaint in July to the UK charity commission, citing perceived conflicts of interest.
The UK charity commission plans to advise SBTi on governance improvements, including conflict of interest management.
The Bezos Earth Fund stated it looks forward to reviewing the commission’s findings, while SBTi emphasized its existing governance processes, according to the report.
Amazon has also faced criticism for not reporting its emissions from grid use for four consecutive years, a requirement since 2015, according to the report. The company promotes alternatives to SBTi’s standards, allowing more flexibility in achieving “net zero” goals.
Observers like Holger Hoffman-Riem from SBTi’s technical advisory group have voiced concerns that Amazon and the Bezos fund might influence climate standards to favor cheaper carbon offsets over actual emission reductions.
“If big polluters like Amazon want to reach net zero as cheaply as possible, they may well have an incentive to engineer a situation where offsets are seen as credible,” he said.
Why It Matters: This issue is not new for Amazon. In July, Amazon chose to bypass the global standard for verifying carbon offsets, instead supporting the development of a new standard called Abacus, developed in collaboration with carbon registry Verra. This move was seen as a significant step towards achieving its goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Bezos has been a prominent figure in climate initiatives. In February 2020, he committed $10 billion to the Bezos Earth Fund to support scientists, activists, and NGOs in combating climate change.
Also, Bill Gates, another major player in climate initiatives, has expressed his desire for influential figures like Elon Musk to talk more about climate change. Gates, along with Bezos and Jack Ma, has been actively involved in climate-focused investments through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which recently raised $839 million for its third flagship fund.
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