By Sharon Kimathi
LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – E-commerce company eBay unveiled its first climate transition plan on Wednesday and said it would ramp up efforts to decarbonize its operations and supply chain as part of a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2045.
The plan, which has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an independent standard setter, builds on an earlier goal of powering all its facilities with 100% renewable electricity by 2025, which was achieved in 2024.
Chief Sustainability Officer Renee Morin told Reuters eBay aims to align itself with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, a target adopted by most countries under the Paris Agreement.
eBay has cut its operational emissions by 92% from 2019 levels and reduced its transportation emissions by 21% toward a 2030 goal of 27.5%.
Going forward, eBay aims to expand its renewable energy adoption, scale its low-carbon innovations in shipping and encourage users to choose resale and reuse options to cut emissions and waste.
Shipping accounts for 84% of eBay’s Scope 3 emissions, those from across its value chain, making it the toughest challenge, Morin said.
“We are collaborating with carriers who offer local pickup or switching from planes to trucks with some of our vendors. We have to be creative to achieve our goals,” she added.
Among its peers, Amazon.com Inc pledged to become carbon neutral by 2040 in 2019, while China’s Alibaba Group committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the decade in 2021.
(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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