A certain Muppet once told us it’s not easy being green. It’s not easy to get the approval of Greenpeace either, apparently, as the environmental organization slammed Amazon and Jeff Bezos over plans to name a Seattle sports venue “Climate Pledge Arena.”
Reacting to Thursday’s news about the new name and sustainability focused initiatives for the reimagined arena at Seattle Center, Greenpeace said Amazon was trying to “greenwash its climate pledges.”
“If Amazon really cared about our planet, it would sever its contracts that help fossil fuel companies produce more oil, instead of executing this meaningless and costly PR stunt,” said Elizabeth Jardim, a senior corporate campaigner with Greenpeace USA.
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A post on the Greenpeace website showed an activist holding a #NoTech4Oil sign in front of the Spheres on Amazon’s campus in Seattle. Greenpeace has been outspoken in its opposition to AWS Energy and the use of cloud technology and artificial intelligence to aid oil and gas companies.
“Jeff Bezos is out of touch with the seriousness of the climate crisis and Amazon is on thin ice with those concerned about the climate and environmental racism,” Jardim said, adding that the arena does nothing for communitiers most impacted by Amazon’s “gross environmental injustices.”
Amazon’s Climate Pledge aims to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change 10 years ahead of schedule. And a new Climate Pledge Fund is aimed at funneling an initial $2 billion into startups building sustainable technologies across various industries such as transportation, food, manufacturing, and more.
The company has faced increased pressure from its own employees to do more to reduce its carbon footprint. But getting to net carbon zero by 2040 will be a challenge considering that the tech giant’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 rose 15 percent over the previous year.
Beyond the name on the arena meant to draw attention to the pledge it made in 2019, Amazon says the venue will strive to be the the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world through such actions as zero waste from operations and events, 100 percent renewable electricity and hockey ice made from reclaimed rainwater.
But Greenpeace isn’t buying it.
“Without meaningful commitments, Amazon’s renaming of the Climate Pledge Arena, like the Climate Pledge itself, risks being yet another empty gesture,” Jardim said. “The climate crisis will not be solved with greenwashed initiatives and carbon neutral arenas.”
