How Amazon tracks carbon intensity across its operations

2026-07-01 · Source: Amazon Science homepage · Field: Business & Management — Operations & Process Management, Corporate Strategy & Leadership · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, short

Summary

Amazon is refining its carbon intensity tracking methods, focusing on sector-specific metrics to measure decarbonization progress across its diverse operations. Since 2019, the company has reduced carbon emissions per unit shipped by 39% by the end of 2025, a key metric for its retail operations that reflects delivery efficiency. This reduction is attributed to investments in carbon-free energy, smarter routing, lighter packaging, low-carbon fuels, alternative transportation, and electric vehicles. Amazon also tracks regional variations to target interventions. Given its broad scope, encompassing logistics, cloud services, and more, Amazon's solutions aim to drive decarbonization across multiple industries. The company recently updated its economic carbon intensity indicator from gCO2e/$GMS to gCO2e/$Revenue in its 2025 reporting for better industry comparability, maintaining its year-over-year trajectory towards its net-zero carbon goal by 2040.

Key takeaway

For Operations Professionals focused on supply chain decarbonization, Amazon's approach highlights the value of developing sector-specific carbon intensity metrics. You should prioritize metrics like emissions per unit shipped to directly reflect operational efficiency and decouple growth from emissions. Consider investing in carbon-free energy, optimizing logistics, and adopting alternative transportation methods. Regularly review and update your economic intensity indicators, like transitioning to gCO2e/\$Revenue, to ensure comparability and transparency in your sustainability reporting.

Key insights

Amazon's carbon intensity tracking evolves with sector-specific metrics, demonstrating a 39% reduction in emissions per unit shipped since 2019.

Principles

• Carbon intensity metrics should be sector-specific.
• Decoupling growth from emissions requires precise measurement.
• Transparency in measurement updates is crucial.

Method

Amazon tracks carbon emissions per unit shipped for retail, applying investments in carbon-free energy, smarter routing, and electric vehicles. It also monitors regional variations and updated its economic intensity metric to gCO2e/$Revenue for comparability.

In practice

• Invest in carbon-free energy and alternative transport.
• Optimize routing and packaging for efficiency.
• Adopt gCO2e/$Revenue for economic intensity.

Topics

• Carbon Intensity
• Decarbonization Strategy
• Supply Chain Emissions
• Sustainability Reporting
• Electric Vehicles
• Logistics Optimization

Best for: Executive, Investor, Operations Professional

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Amazon Science homepage.