You See, Amazon Provides Computing Services To Big Oil To Make Them Less Carbon-Intensive . . . .

[hatrack]

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Despite the multipronged climate push, the company faces an uphill battle of perception in some quarters. Sustainalytics, a unit of Morningstar that provides research and rankings on sustainability risk factors, currently ranks Amazon dead last out of 441 retailers with regard to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. But not all opinions on Amazon ESG are so negative. Just Capital, a nonprofit research organization that seeks to help companies better serve workers, customers, communities and the environment as well as shareholders, ranks Amazon 75th out of 830 companies. Among retailers, Just Capital ranks Amazon second out of 50 overall, and 14th out of 50 in environmental impact.

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Perhaps the most contentious environmental issue that Amazon faces is the use of its AWS cloud computing platform for oil and gas exploration. But Amazon is not the only provider of such cloud-based number crunching for oil and gas companies. Greenpeace recently released a report called "Oil in the Cloud" that covers how companies in the oil and gas industry use cloud services from Microsoft, Google and Amazon. "There's no reason anyone should be engaging in new exploration. We need to make sure the fossil fuel we already have ends up staying the ground. It raises questions about what we should think about Amazon's [climate pledge] actions," said Brian Berkey, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Of course, companies are free to pursue business opportunities as they see fit, said one researcher. "I think a more relevant question is, do such contracts align with the spirit or goal of Amazon's climate pledge? That is ultimately a decision that rests with Amazon and its overall business and sustainability strategy," said Moin Syed, manager of ESG research at Sustainalytics.

Amazon said in a statement, "The energy industry should have access to the same technologies as other industries. We will continue to provide cloud services to companies in the energy industry to make their legacy businesses less carbon intensive and help them accelerate development of renewable energy businesses."

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https://searchaws.techtarget.com/feature/Amazons-sustainability-initiatives-Half-empty-or-half-full