Thread by @emahlee

Some reflections on #AMZNclimate. Almost 7,000 Amazon employees have now signed a public letter asking the company to show bold, decisive leadership on the climate crisis 1/x medium.com/@amazonemploye…

(The Medium post is lagging behind our actual numbers which is over 6,700) 2/x

Amazon employees care deeply about the climate crisis. Seeing the outpouring of support has been very emotional for me. People are grateful, encouraged, saying things on email lists like, "thank you for putting this forth and inviting us in to the chance of a lifetime" 3/x

The climate crisis terrifies us, breaks our heart, looms heavily on us. Many want—desperately want—to do something, but haven't known, up until now, what to do. 4/x

I mean, Amazon's own PR says we have over 200 people "dedicated exclusively" toward the good of customers and the planet. Yes! We DO have smart, passionate, dedicated, extremely talented people who want to make a difference on climate. But what has that gotten us? 5/x

It's virtually impossible for folks working on climate at Amazon to be as successful and impactful as they long to be without the goals and support from the highest levels of the company. 6/x

That's why 28 of us co-filed the climate shareholder resolution. Because we wanted to bring the climate crisis to the highest levels of the company, and quickly! given the urgency of climate change. 7/x

It certainly isn't lack of passion, hard work, or talent from employees that Amazon has lagged behind our peers on climate. Quite the opposite! It's that senior leadership hasn't made it a priority. That needs to change. 8/x

Our peers:
Microsoft pledged to cut emissions by 75% by 2030.

Google achieved its goal of 100% renewable energy for all of its operations and data centers in 2017.

Apple's data centers have been powered by 100% renewable energy since 2014. 9/x

Our peers (cont):
"Walmart has set a goal to be powered by 50% renewable sources by 2025, and has currently achieved 28%, making the goal well on track toward on-time completion." 10/x energymanagertoday.com/walmart-releas…

Our peers (cont):
DHL set a public goal of zero-emissions logistics by 2050, and 50% emission reduction by 2025.

IKEA is transitioning its delivery fleets to EV and has committed to 100% electric deliveries by 2020 in 5 cities and 100% electric deliveries globally by 2025 11/x

Before employee pressure, Amazon refused to release it's carbon footprint, and hadn't "announced any new deals to supply clean energy to its data centers since 2016." That's changed. But, there's NO DATE to achieve "100% renewable energy usage for our global infrastructure.” 12/x

Source, and an eye-opening read: gizmodo.com/amazon-is-aggr… 13/x

Shipment Zero was a direct result of employee pressure (hooray!) but it doesn't commit to a decrease in emissions compared to current levels. Given Amazon’s rate of growth, reaching 50% net-zero shipments by 2030 could still be an increase in emissions compared to today. 14/x

And that's not all. Amazon is actively helping fossil fuel companies expand and accelerate oil and gas extraction. It's 2019. The science is clear. To avert catastrophic warming, we *must* keep oil and gas in the ground. 15/x

https://twitter.com/emahlee/status/1104218682253729792

Amazon's lack of leadership on climate is very troubling to Amazon employees. Many of us work in tech because we want to have a positive impact on the world, we want to make things better for humanity. Amazon's role in accelerating climate change is at odds with our values. 16/x

The last two summers, Amazon employees in Seattle came to work breathing in the worst air in the world caused by unprecedented wildfires. You could see ashes floating in the air. We learn, with increasing frequency, of disastrous weather events happening across the globe. 17/x

Amazon's leadership principles are taken extremely seriously here. We bring them up in meetings, over email, in casual hallway conversations. Yet there's a disconnect between these principles and our lack of climate leadership amazon.jobs/en-gb/principl… 18/x

For instance, Customer Obsession may be our most important leadership principle. Given the threat climate change poses to our customers, given what's at stake for them, the people we're here to serve, it doesn't make sense that we're also not climate obsessed. 19/x

Ownership is another poignant leadership principle irt the climate crisis. "Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results." Makes me think of our oceans, residents in Miami, coral reefs, small island countries. 20/x

Think Big, Earns Trust, Bias for Action... so many of our leadership principles are being ignored when it comes to the defining issue of our lifetimes. I can't think of a more important issue for our customers than the climate crisis. 21/x

A reporter asked, "But is it feasible to transition completely off of fossil fuels?," one of the things our plan asks for. Yes. What's the alternative? Catastrophic warming threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people and the extinction of thousands of species? 22/x

Disastrous effects on our national security? Our health? Economic collapse and crisis some financial analysts predict will be 3-4 times worse than the 2008 financial crisis? Yes, I think it’s feasible. It has to be. It's our one and only planet. 23/x

Amazon is an innovative company. What if it used its smarts and power and scale to actually show bold leadership on the climate crisis? Now that would be interesting. That’s what Amazon workers and customers are hungry for. 24x

I'm in love with this interview with Rebecca Sheppard, who's been part of the movement underway to shift Amazon from a company lagging to LEADING on climate. She articulates so well what many of us feel. 25/x gizmodo.com/an-amazon-orga…

"I feel probably the most energized I have in six years...I think it takes a lot of action from a lot of people to make the changes that we need, so it’s just been really inspiring and motivating and energizing to work with all these people who feel the same way." 26/x

"being a part of something that encourages Amazon to be on the right side of climate action is something that we’re all proud of. And it shouldn’t be something that we’re covertly doing...We’re doing it openly, we’re doing it to be *collaborative* with Amazon." 27/x

"We all see ourselves as being progressive for Amazon and helping Amazon lead the pack into the future. I think that this is the kind of momentum we’re seeing more and more with the Google walkouts, with We Won’t Build It," 28/x

"I think that we are finding that there’s actually a lot of power in employees. And there’s power in people who have a common cause." 29/x

"I feel incredibly inspired by the coming together of all of my colleagues at Amazon. Everyone that I’ve shared the letter or asked to sign it has been more than enthusiastic—they’ve signed it, shared it, and asked about how they can get more involved." 30/x

"And so, to me, it has made me feel connected to my colleagues as well as more invested in Amazon." 31/x

"I think it’s empowering. And I think people are just starting to realize the power that we all have together, and in coming together. There’s a lot of power there that we’ve been unaware of and that we’re tapping into and it’s going to drive a change." 32/x

"We already see it driving a change: The announcement of Shipment Zero. That came from the resolution. We know that was in direct correspondence to the initial resolution filed last year. So we see the power that we have." 33/x

"Amazon is in a unique place to disrupt and improve a number of industries, and we’re all looking forward to the opportunity to help Amazon do that." 34/x

What we're seeing at Amazon is just the tip of the iceberg (heh) here and across the tech sector. As @developingjen put it, "The opportunity for the technology industry to truly lead on the climate crisis is immense." 35/x

As the climate crisis accelerates, so too will tech workers' collective actions calling for bold, rapid action and leadership from our companies. We can face the crisis, head on, and avert it's worst outcomes if we do it together. Together is the only way we win. 💚❤️ /end