On 25 June 2024 Ethical Consumer viewed the website of Amazon.com Inc for details of its agricultural practices. Its 2022 sustainability report was viewed.
We were looking for evidence of organic standards, or that the company prohibited GM ingredients or animal feed, or was reducing chemicals used in agriculture.
We also looked for any: policy on biodiversity and ecosystems; evidence of reducing pollution, especially from animal farming; policy on reducing water use/ water waste of agriculture; and policy on food waste.
The company offered some organic fruit / vegetables / milk (10 points).
The company did not appear to adequately restrict the use of GM (0 points).
The company had an inadequate, or no, policy on pesticides (0 points).
The company had a statement acknowledging biodiversity/ecosystems and had a stated aim to reduce agricultural impact in its 2022 sustainability report. It largely discussed funding relevant projects as opposed to addressing its own impacts (10 points).
The company did not appear to demonstrate ways it was preventing or reducing agricultural pollution / run-off for its main products. It stated "In England, AWS is collaborating with The Rivers Trust to create
wetland areas in the Thames River basin. These wetlands will recharge groundwater and improve water quality by naturally filtering polluted runoff" but this did not appear to connect to its own impacts. (0 points).
The company discussed reduced water use in its supply chain: "India is one of the world’s most water-stressed countries. To reduce water use in India operations, we have an active stewardship program and have adopted the Water Neutrality Index (WNI) as a key metric. As of 2022, India operations achieved a WNI score of 1 for 212 in-scope operations facilities and aims to achieve water positivity for these same facilities in 2023." (10 points)
The company provided no, or only brief, information about how it avoided food waste. (0 points)
No significant external criticisms of the company in relation to agriculture were found.
Final scores are capped at either 0 or 100. Overall, Amazon.com Inc scored 30/100 for Agriculture.
Reference:
www.amazon.co.uk (3 June 2024)