Amazon’s 2024 Report: Revealing the Carbon Cost of Logistics

With more than 1,000 packages shipped every minute, Amazon’s global logistics network stands as one of the most expansive supply chains in the world.

Its 2024 Sustainability Report gives a detailed picture of how those operations intersect with emissions, energy use and waste. The report shows Amazon’s total carbon emissions have gone up, but emissions per dollar of sales have dropped.

Across delivery fleets, data centres and packaging lines, the company is focusing on adjusting processes rather than slowing them down.

"Looking ahead, we recognise that the path to being a more sustainable company will never be linear, because we’re charting new territory at an unprecedented scale," explains Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon.

This year’s updates focus on how Amazon manages its transport networks, warehouse operations and cloud infrastructure—each a heavy component of its environmental footprint.

Delivery fleets, packaging and carbon per sale

The headline figure in the report is a rise in total emissions—from 64.38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO₂e) in 2023 to 68.25 MTCO₂e in 2024. This follows increased customer demand and expansion across fulfilment and delivery.

Still, Amazon reports a fall in emissions intensity: from 75.6 grams CO₂e per dollar of gross merchandise sales to 72.6g. This shift means that even though the overall footprint is larger, it is lower relative to the volume of goods sold.

A major reason is the expansion of Amazon’s electric delivery fleet. In 2024, the company increased the number of electric vans from 19,000 to more than 31,000. It also met its goal of deploying 10,000 EVs in India a year ahead of target. Amazon aims to have at least 100,000 electric vans in service globally by 2030.

These vehicles operate alongside efforts to remove plastics from packaging. In 2024, Amazon eliminated plastic air pillows across global operations, replacing them with recyclable paper fillers. This helped bring down single-use plastic packaging by 16.4%.

Meanwhile, in its warehouse and fulfilment centres, Amazon improved its landfill diversion rate to 85%, up from 84% the previous year.

The company’s broader logistics strategy is now underpinned by renewable energy. Since 2023, Amazon has matched 100% of the electricity used across its global operations with renewable sources, a target it maintained in 2024.

AWS energy and global water returns

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing division, remains a major part of Amazon’s carbon load.

Still, the report shows improved operational efficiency. AWS data centres posted a global power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.15, outperforming the industry average of 1.25. PUE measures the energy used by a data centre relative to the energy used by its computing equipment—the lower the number, the more efficient the operation.

Water use in AWS also features in this year’s sustainability strategy. Amazon has committed to becoming water positive in its AWS operations by 2030. This means it will return more water to communities than it uses directly.

The company reports 53% progress toward this goal. In India, Amazon set a target to return more water to local communities than it uses in all its direct operations by 2027.

Amazon’s device ecosystem, including Echo, Fire TV and Ring, is now also backed by 100% renewable energy, matched with operational wind and solar capacity.

Sustainability as collective action

Through The Climate Pledge, an initiative Amazon co-founded in 2019, the company continues to push shared action. The number of signatories rose to 549 in 2024, made up of companies that commit to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Sally Fouts, Director of The Climate Pledge, says: "As a co-founder and signatory of The Climate Pledge, Amazon has helped build a framework for collective action and accountability.

"Reporting like this is a reminder that progress isn’t always linear—but it is essential. When businesses measure and report openly, they create clarity, trust and momentum for others to follow."

Alongside logistics and cloud operations, Amazon’s social programmes also feature in the report. These include 21,000 affordable homes supported through US$2.2bn of investment, food waste reduction across Europe and the US, and free cloud and AI skills training for more than 33 million people.

While emissions are still on the rise, the report frames sustainability as a continuous process of adaptation rather than one-off achievements.