In September 2019, Amazon pledged to become carbon neutral by 2040. Now the e-commerce giant is launching a $2 billion venture capital fund to help make that goal a reality.
The Climate Pledge Fund will invest in technology companies working to combat climate change in the transportation, logistics, and storage industries.
"We're looking to invest in products and solutions that help us to decarbonize and that really have an impact on our quick evolution to a low-carbon economy," Kara Hurst, head of sustainability at Amazon, told Cheddar.
At the same time, the company released an annual sustainability report showing a 15 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions in 2019.
However, the report also announced that the company is on a path to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, which is five years ahead of schedule.
Hurst maintains that "e-commerce is inherently more sustainable" than other consumer options, and that expanding Amazon's warehouse and distribution network into local markets will help cut down carbon emissions for individual orders.
"We're looking at all the ways that we can place products closer to our customers and continue to drive down carbon that way," she said.
One area where Amazon is already working to balance higher business volume with sustainable goals is in packaging. Since 2015, the company has reduced packaging weight by 33 percent and cut more than 880,000 tons of packaging material, equalling roughly 1.5 billion shipping boxes.
"We have been on this path for a long time, and will continue to be on the path," Hurst said.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
