Amazon has become the first company to bypass the global carbon offset verification standards established by a non-profit organization mainly funded by Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos.
Amazon is supporting the development of a new standard that will enable the online retail and cloud computing provider to overcome the shortage of high-quality carbon offsets, helping it achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Critics worry that this move could cause market confusion and weaken carbon offset standards.
Under the pressure to reduce emissions, companies can purchase carbon credits from project developers that absorb carbon, such as through reforestation. However, due to the limited number of projects that can validate their climate benefits, the carbon offset market has remained relatively small.
Amazon told Reuters that it has completed work on Abacus, a framework for verifying the quality of reforestation and agroforestry carbon offsets.
Amazon developed this standard with the carbon registry Verra, to replace the standards established by the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM), the world's largest private and environmental organization. Verra first announced its collaboration with Amazon and its Abacus working group to develop this label in 2022.
