Amazon to Buy 100,000 Electric Vans as Part of Pledge against Climate Change

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Category: Business

Listening

Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. ambitious / æmˈbɪʃ əs / (adj) – requiring much effort and hard work to be achieved
    Example:

    Everyone needs to work hard to meet our ambitious target of 200% sales increase.


  2. exert / ɪgˈzɜrt / (v) – to use one’s ability or efforts
    Example:

    The police have exerted their authority to restore peace in the community.


  3. fleet / flit / (n) – a group of cars or other vehicles operating under one company
    Example:

    The taxicab company owns a fleet of 200 taxis.


  4. come through / kʌm θru / (phrasal) – to do or accomplish what is expected of someone/something
    Example:

    It was a difficult year, but we were still able to come through and meet our targets.


  5. pressure / ˈprɛʃ ər / (n) – the force that a person or group puts on someone or something
    Example:

    The CEO finally gave in to the pressure coming from the employees and agreed to their demands for higher pay.


Article

Read the text below.

Amazon announced that it will buy 100,000 electric delivery vans as part of its pledge to fight climate change.


Jeff Bezos, the company’s CEO, made the announcement during a National Press Club event in Washington, DC. Amazon’s new delivery vans will be supplied by Rivian, an electric vehicle startup. Amazon plans to deploy all 100,000 electric vans by 2024, but the company will start rolling them out in 2021. According to Amazon’s senior vice president of operations, this recent transaction is the largest electric delivery vehicle order in history.


Amazon’s announcement came after the company made an ambitious climate change pledge in line with the Paris Agreement. Under the Paris Agreement, countries are called to exert efforts to significantly reduce carbon emissions and achieve sustainability goals by 2050. However, Amazon vowed to accomplish the company’s sustainability goals 10 years earlier and be carbon neutral by 2040.


To achieve this, the company will regularly monitor its carbon emissions and work toward completely eliminating it. Currently, only 40% of Amazon’s delivery operations are running on renewable energy. Bezos hopes that by 2030, renewable energy will be used by Amazon’s entire delivery fleet.


The Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of climate change activists from the company, commended the company’s vision for sustainability.  On the other hand, some critics argued that in the past, Amazon had also made major promises related to helping the environment but failed to come through. Critics claimed that the company did not have any significant action until there was pressure from its employees.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

• If Amazon fails to meet its ambitious pledge, how do you think the company will be affected? Discuss.
• Do you think all companies should follow Amazon’s footsteps and also make a climate change pledge? Why or why not?

Discussion B

• Do you think that there should be “climate justice groups” in every company? Why or why not?
• Aside from forming groups, what else can individual employees do to help in companies‘ efforts to save the environment? Discuss.