Amazon qZERO®
Sustainability Score
Since its beginnings in 1994 as an online bookseller, Amazon has become one of the world's most recognised and trusted brands. Rooted in a passion for innovation, Amazon has continually reshaped how we shop, connect, and experience the world. Built on a spirit of curiosity and customer obsession, bold ideas and a commitment to operational excellence mark its journey.
Today, Amazon’s ambition extends far beyond retail. The company is embracing a future where technology and sustainability walk hand-in-hand. From investing in renewable energy projects to reinventing packaging for a smaller environmental footprint, Amazon is focused on solutions that combine convenience, progress, and responsibility. Every step is taken carefully, driven by transparent action and a dedication to doing better for communities, customers, and the planet.
Amazon business sustainability position is in line with average compared to other companies in the E-commerce and General Retail.
Amazon positioning within the E-commerce and General Retail
Amazon leads the industry on environmental performance, reflecting stronger action on emissions and operational efficiency. Yet it trails on social outcomes, signalling a bigger gap on workforce experience and community impact. On governance, Amazon sits slightly below the industry, pointing to room for clearer accountability and stronger safeguards. Overall, Amazon shows progress where the planet benefits most, while the sector and shoppers alike will look for deeper, people-centred change, paired with trusted leadership that earns confidence every day.
Amazon combines millions of products across every category—from everyday essentials and books to technology, fashion, and groceries. Its services, like Prime, Amazon Fresh, and Alexa, offer convenience at the touch of a button, supported by fast delivery, entertainment, and smart home solutions. Amazon Marketplace also empowers small businesses to reach customers worldwide, offering various choices in one trusted place.
Amazon is working to make more sustainable choices accessible without raising consumer costs. Through initiatives like Climate Pledge Friendly, it highlights products with credible sustainability certifications, helping shoppers make informed decisions. Investments in renewable energy, improved packaging, and zero-emission deliveries aim to lower environmental impact without compromising affordability or convenience. Amazon’s approach reflects a belief that sustainability should not be a luxury but part of everyday living.
Amazon is taking action through bold sustainability initiatives designed to make a real difference. Its "Shipment Zero" ambition targets making 50% of deliveries net-zero carbon by 2030, reducing the environmental footprint of each parcel. Amazon is also the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, investing in wind and solar projects across the globe. Through the Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon supports pioneering companies creating sustainable technologies for the future. Its efforts to rethink packaging, champion resource reuse, and invest in community programmes reflect a broader commitment to environmental care and social progress. Every initiative is a step towards building a more sustainable and inclusive tomorrow.
Amazon shows clear environmental intent in several high-impact areas, particularly around external assurance and proactive environmental opportunity-seeking. Strong performance on environmental certifications and compliance suggests systems are in place to meet recognised standards and regulatory expectations, while robust pollution prevention points to practical controls that can reduce harmful releases across operations. Climate risk awareness is also relatively strong, signalling that the business is factoring climate impacts into decision-making.
However, the overall picture is constrained by foundational gaps in environmental management and product stewardship, alongside weak packaging outcomes. Moderate results on energy and greenhouse gas emissions indicate that decarbonisation is underway but not yet delivering the scale of reduction expected from a company with Amazon’s footprint. Nature-related performance is mixed: materials sourcing appears strong, yet land use, biodiversity, and water management are areas where clearer commitments and measurable progress are needed to reduce pressure on ecosystems.
Amazon’s social performance is defined by a strong outward-facing commitment to communities, paired with clear gaps in day-to-day people practices and customer experience. The company shows real capacity to contribute through community investment and skills-building, and it communicates elements of its approach through recognised social frameworks. However, the benefits are undercut by weak signals on worker experience, workplace protections, and trust-related issues such as privacy and customer relations. Overall, the picture is mixed: high-impact community support and learning opportunities on one side, and uneven fundamentals around labour, safety, and accountability on the other.
Amazon stands out most in how it supports communities and social initiatives, signalling a large-scale ability to mobilise resources where they can matter quickly. Its community engagement is a clear high point, backed by very strong philanthropic activity. The company also shows momentum in building capabilities through training and education, helping people develop skills that can translate into longer-term opportunity. Workplace inclusivity appears more developed than several other workforce areas, indicating some structured effort towards representation and belonging. These strengths suggest Amazon can create positive social value when it sets clear goals and backs them with investment and programmes.
The weakest areas relate to how people experience Amazon as a workplace and as a service provider. Customer relations is an acute concern, pointing to a need for more responsive, fair, and human-centred customer outcomes. Internally, low confidence in human capital management, alongside limited performance on labour relations and health and safety, suggests that employee voice, working conditions, and protections need far more consistent delivery. Data privacy also remains a pressure point, particularly important for a company operating at Amazon’s scale across retail and digital services. Progress here requires stronger safeguards, clearer accountability, and transparent reporting people can trust.
Amazon’s governance profile shows clear intent to build long-term resilience, supported by relatively strong board oversight and a solid approach to shareholder rights. Governance-related certifications also suggest some established management systems are in place. Where the picture weakens is in day-to-day accountability mechanisms that help prevent issues before they escalate. Low performance around crisis readiness and risk management signals limited confidence that the company can anticipate, contain, and transparently manage shocks across a complex global footprint.
The company appears to have governance structures that can support strategic continuity, with above-average signals on resilience and board-level accountability. However, overall governance strength depends not only on who sits at the table, but on how effectively risks are identified, prioritised and acted upon. A weak materiality lens implies that the issues most likely to affect people, markets and trust may not always be weighted with the urgency they deserve. This can dilute decision-making, slow corrective action, and reduce clarity on what “good governance” looks like in practice.
To strengthen credibility with consumers, investors and regulators, Amazon would benefit from tightening the fundamentals: clear risk ownership, reliable escalation pathways, and transparent public commitments that stand up to scrutiny. Closing gaps in information security and product governance would also reduce exposure to operational disruption and reputational harm. Finally, a clearer, more accountable tax strategy narrative would help demonstrate that value creation is matched by responsible contribution in the markets where the company operates.
Amazon’s unique strength lies in combining innovation, convenience, and commitment to a lower environmental footprint. As a founding member of The Climate Pledge, Amazon is pushing towards net-zero carbon by 2040, backed by real investments in renewable energy and electrified delivery. Shoppers can easily identify Climate Pledge Friendly products, making more thoughtful, straightforward, and clearer choices. With a vast product selection, reliable service, and increasing focus on sustainable operations, Amazon offers customers what they want and better ways to shop responsibly, helping to create a more convenient, inclusive, and climate-conscious future.
Amazon is working towards a more responsible future, embedding sustainability across its operations. With clear action in environmental care, community engagement, and ethical governance, Amazon’s journey highlights both progress made and opportunities ahead.
When you shop with Amazon, your choices can help support this movement towards positive change. Here's how you can easily find lower-impact options:
Every purchase is a small but meaningful step. By choosing lower-impact products, you help support a future where shopping is better for people and the planet. Together, small choices lead to big change.
Amazon is actively working with recognised certifications to support sustainability and consumer trust. Below are the key certifications associated with Amazon’s products and business practices.
Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly programme highlights products that meet one or more of 30+ trusted sustainability certifications. It helps customers easily discover products designed with a lower environmental impact, including certifications such as Fairtrade, Energy Star, and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
Many Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly products carry the Fairtrade mark, ensuring better prices, decent working conditions, and fair terms for farmers and workers in developing countries.
Amazon features a wide range of Energy Star-certified products, meaning they meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.
GOTS-certified products available through Amazon are produced with organic fibres and meet strict environmental and social criteria throughout the textile supply chain.
Some Amazon products and services have achieved Carbon Trust certification, demonstrating verified carbon footprint reduction and sustainable resource use across their life cycle.
Amazon offers FSC-certified paper-based products, ensuring materials are sourced from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Through its Climate Pledge Friendly programme, Amazon also includes products assessed for material health, reutilisation, renewable energy use, water stewardship, and social fairness based on Cradle to Cradle standards.
Products featuring the Responsible Wool Standard certification available on Amazon guarantee that wool comes from farms with a progressive approach to land management and animal welfare.
Bluesign® certified products available on Amazon ensure that textiles meet rigorous environmental, health, and safety standards from the beginning of the manufacturing process.
Amazon continues expanding its recognised third-party sustainability certifications portfolio to ensure more products meet trusted environmental and social standards. We encourage shoppers to check the latest Amazon Sustainability Reports regularly for the most up-to-date list of certifications and initiatives.
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