Amazon certifies eco-friendly products; Climate Pledge gains momentum

Amazon is introducing a new initiative to help customers discover and shop for sustainable products.

Customers will now see a new “Climate Pledge Friendly” label when searching for more than 25,000 products on the Amazon site, to signify that the items have one or more of 19 different sustainability certifications, such as reducing the carbon footprint of shipments to customers.

Climate Pledge Friendly selection includes grocery, household, fashion, beauty, and personal electronics products, as well as items from a range of other categories. The products are clearly labeled in shopping results, have additional sustainability information on the product page, and are featured in a dedicated section of the Amazon store. 

Amazon is partnering with trusted third-party certifications, such as the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, a global non-profit dedicated to transforming the safety, health, and sustainability of products. As part of the initiative, Amazon is also announcing Compact by Design, a new externally-validated certification that identifies products which have a more efficient design. 

In other developments related to Amazon’s ongoing sustainability efforts, Best Buy, McKinstry, Real Betis, Schneider Electric, and Siemens have all joined the Climate Pledge. In 2019, Amazon and climate change network Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. 

Verizon, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), and Infosys also recently joined the pledge. Best Buy has cut its carbon footprint in half since 2009, and in June unveiled a solar field, in Martin, S.C., that will produce 174,000 megawatt hours of clean electricity per year for the local power grid — enough to power the equivalent of 260 Best Buy stores for an entire year.