Amazon to invest £300m in UK network to ‘electrify and decarbonise’
Amazon is to invest more than £300m in its electric vehicle fleet for the UK in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.
The technology and delivery giant announced more than 1billion Euros investment across Europe over the next five years, with a big chunk in Britain to “electrify and decarbonise” its transportation network.
While already using 3,000 zero emissions vehicles across the continent, it made the move with a bid to becoming net-zero by 2040, and having 10,000 by 2025.
Amazon also launched ‘micromobility’ hubs in 20 cities across Europe, including London, offer smaller and centrally-located delivery stations.
This allows deliveries to be made on e-cargo bikes and on-foot, instead of with vans or lorries.
The raft of measures was welcomed by transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who said the government is “committed to creating cleaner transport as we work to tackle the global challenge that is climate change.”
“Significant investments like Amazon’s today will be vital to reducing emissions and meeting our Net Zero goals, while supporting growth at the same time.”
“By adding thousands of electric and zero emission vehicles to its fleet, Amazon is not only working to make their deliveries more sustainable, but also stimulating innovation across industry in the drive to cleaner transport.”
Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said its “transportation network is one of the most challenging areas of our business to decarbonise, and to achieve net-zero carbon will require a substantial and sustained investment.”
“Deploying thousands of electric vans, long-haul trucks, and bikes will help us shift further away from traditional fossil fuels—and hopefully, further encourage transportation and automotive industries in Europe and around the world to continue scaling and innovating, as we will have to work together to reach our climate goals.”