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If Amazon doesn’t know how to eliminate carbon emissions, then who does?
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Amazon’s chief sustainability officer said Tuesday that the company still does not know how it will achieve its net-zero carbon emissions goal for 2040. Kara Hurst made the admission at an Axios event, saying Amazon is “still striving towards that target.” She added that she would not claim “we know all the ways” the company will get there, a striking acknowledgment from one of the world’s largest technology businesses. The candor is valuable, but it leaves a substantial gap between a headline pledge and a fully mapped route to delivering it.
The uncertainty matters because Amazon’s latest reported annual revenue reached $717 billion, up 12%, an amount comparable to the size of Ireland’s economy. Its rise illustrates how economic power has shifted from governments toward a small group of corporations, as UN Secretary-General António Guterres has observed. As corporate influence expands, so does debate over whether private companies should help shoulder the cost of addressing climate change. The question is especially urgent for Amazon, whose cloud, logistics and AI operations shape energy demand across multiple industries.
Hurst defended the company’s approach in a written response to TechCrunch, saying, “This isn’t a question of companies versus governments.” She argued that tackling climate change at the scale required demands cooperation, adding that Amazon will lead where it can. The company points to being one of the world’s largest clean-energy purchasers, with 42 gigawatts in its portfolio, and says it has reduced emissions per dollar of revenue. However, carbon intensity increased in the latest year compared with 2024, even though it remained below its 2022 level, complicating the progress narrative.
Amazon’s footprint reaches aviation, AI, agriculture, construction and other sectors, so reaching net zero also requires suppliers to decarbonize. That makes the task more complicated than buying renewable energy to supply Amazon’s own warehouses and data centers. AI growth can add electricity demand faster than cleaner grids, storage and transmission become available. As a result, strong renewable-energy purchasing does not automatically translate into declining total emissions.
That tension is visible in a reported plan for a 7.65-gigawatt natural-gas power plant to support an AI data-center campus. The project’s 35 turbines could release up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, potentially making it the largest single source of that pollution in the United States. The investment appears to prioritize near-term cloud and AI growth over immediate emissions reduction, even as Amazon says its Climate Pledge commitment remains unchanged. For customers, regulators and climate advocates, the project turns a distant 2040 promise into a present-day credibility test.
The reaction to Hurst’s admission has understandably been skeptical: a company with Amazon’s resources should be able to explain how major emissions sources will change. Her response that “this is not something we can do alone” correctly identifies the need for supplier cooperation, but it does not remove Amazon’s own obligations. The admission also puts renewed focus on interim milestones, transparent reporting and the consistency of investment decisions. Without those, the net-zero target risks remaining a statement of intent rather than an operational plan.
The outlook will depend on whether cheaper renewable power, storage and other climate technologies can keep pace with Amazon’s expansion. Its enormous purchasing power gives the company an unusual opportunity to accelerate clean-energy markets instead of locking in more fossil-fuel infrastructure. The next wave of AI data centers will be a decisive test of that opportunity. Governments still have a major role in grid investment and climate policy, but Amazon’s size means its choices can influence whether technology-sector growth becomes cleaner—or makes the transition harder.
