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28 Oct 2020
Programme launches with over 40,000 Climate Pledge Friendly products across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK with one or more of 19 sustainability certifications
Amazon also introduces ‘Compact by Design’ in Europe - a new certification programme for products designed to reduce carbon emissions through increased efficiency and better packaging
Luxembourg, 28 October 2020 – Amazon today announced the launch of Climate Pledge Friendly in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. The new programme will help make it easy for customers to discover and shop for more sustainable products. Customers will now see the Climate Pledge Friendly badge on more than 40,000 products in Europe to signify that the products have one or more of 19 different sustainability certifications that help preserve the natural world, such as reducing the carbon footprint of shipments to customers.
The Climate Pledge Friendly selection includes beauty, fashion, grocery, household, office, and electronics products for consumers and businesses from brands including Cif ecorefill and Seventh Generation by Unilever, Faith in Nature, HP Inc., Calida, Esprit, Haglöfs, and Kite Clothing. Climate Pledge Friendly products are clearly shown in shopping results, have additional sustainability information on the product page, and are featured in a dedicated section of our stores in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The Climate Pledge Friendly selection includes products made and sold by small businesses across Europe.
Amazon has partnered with trusted third-party certifications, and customers will be able to discover products that meet sustainability standards designed to help preserve the natural world. Climate Pledge Friendly includes a wide range of global certifications and Amazon is adding European certifications from EU Ecolabel, Blue Angel, and Nordic Swan. Amazon is working with more certification partners and brands to add to the selection of Climate Pledge Friendly products.
As part of the Climate Pledge Friendly initiative, Amazon is also introducing Compact by Design in Europe, a new externally validated certification created by Amazon to identify products that, while they may not always look very different, have a more efficient design. With the removal of excess air and water, products require less packaging and become more efficient to ship. At scale, these small differences in product size and weight lead to significant carbon emission reductions.
Cif ecorefill and Viss Nachfüller offer a unique Compact by Design-certified cleaning spray refill that helps people reuse their spray bottles at home. Their 10-times concentrated formula delivers a powerful cleaning performance with 75% less plastic and in a 100% recyclable ecorefill, enabling significant energy, material and transport savings. Similarly, Faith in Nature’s plastic-free shampoo bars provide the ultimate zero-waste alternative to bottled shampoo. Their solid shampoo weighs just a quarter of the total weight in a liquid shampoo, significantly reducing the weight and packaging for each order.
“Climate Pledge Friendly is a simple way for our customers to discover more sustainable products that help preserve the natural world,” said Xavier Garambois, Vice President for European Retail at Amazon. “With 18 external certification programmes and our own new Compact by Design certification, we’re incentivizing selling partners to create sustainable products that help protect the planet for future generations.”
“It’s fantastic to see Amazon helping to make sustainable shopping easier and more accessible for consumers. Fairtrade is committed to supply chain transparency and environmental protection, and we are therefore delighted to be involved in Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly programme,” said Darío Soto Abril, CEO of Fairtrade International. “I look forward to seeing it launch in Europe, and hope it encourages even more brands to source more sustainably and certify their products so we can continue to drive positive impact that benefits farmers, workers and our shared environment.”
“It has never been more important to provide information that allows us all to contribute to a sustainable future, and our focus is on highlighting products that meet tough requirements on chemical usage, resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity” said Ragnar Unge, CEO Ecolabelling Sweden, in charge of The Nordic Swan Ecolabel. “Climate Pledge Friendly will help guide consumers in Europe to easily find products with trusted sustainability certifications.”
“In line with our mission to make sustainable living commonplace, we are delighted to partner with Amazon on its Climate Pledge Friendly initiative,” said Peter ter Kulve, President Unilever Home Care, makers of CIF ecorefill, Comfort and Seventh Generation, among other brands available through the programme. “Amazon’s initiative will drive scale and impact for more sustainable consumption by helping customers easily discover products that are Climate Pledge Friendly and encourage the manufacturers to make their products more sustainable. Unilever is committed to delivering products that provide the best experience for consumers while reducing the impact that our products and our operations have on the environment.”
The Climate Pledge Friendly initiative supports Amazon’s commitment to reach the Paris Agreement ten years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. The company has already committed to reaching 100% renewable energy by 2025 and ordered more than 1,800 branded electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz to make deliveries to customers in Europe. Amazon also launched the Climate Pledge Fund, a $2 billion fund to back visionary companies whose products and services will facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy. Amazon is also working to minimise waste, increase recycling, and provide options for customers to reuse, repair, and recycle products. As part of this effort we are removing a wide range of single-use and oxo-biodegradable plastic products from our websites across Europe and the UK to help prevent plastic waste. Building on these actions, Amazon will now make it easier for customers to access product choices that align with our commitment to a more sustainable future.
For detailed information on the programme qualification criteria and to start shopping for these products visit our stores in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK or look for the Climate Pledge Friendly mark on qualifying products.
E-Mail: press@fairtrade.net