E-commerce platform Alibaba group has cut its carbon footprint from direct operations by reusing some of its packaging material. Alibaba joined the UN Global Compact in 2021. Under the UNGC companies are asked to do business responsibly and then pursue opportunities to solve societal challenges through innovation. The Paris Agreement, signed by many countries, agrees to keep reducing emissions by 45% by 2030 and reach zero by 2050.
Alibaba carbon footprint findings
Alibaba group has just released its annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report for 2023.
It managed to reduce its net emissions to a total of 4.681 million in the 2023 financial year. That’s an increase of nearly 13% compared to the previous financial year.
It managed to reduce its consumption of packaging materials by 0.184 million tons in this financial year. Alibaba aims to reduce its use of cartons by repurposing it. “We develop simple packaging schemes according to industry characteristics to reduce the use of cartons from the source; we actively promote shipments with original boxes and used packages,” reads the report.
Alibaba carbon footprint progress
Over the past year, the e-commerce platform has made solid progress towards meeting their emission targets. They implemented quality methods to achieve this. They extend their focus from emissions reduction – to preservation of the entire ecosystem. This includes plastic reduction and waste elimination.
The report states that the e-commerce business is trying to improve its packaging system. “In addition to our internal efforts, we are actively engaging the ecosystem surrounding our logistics, international e-commerce businesses and so on to drive actions and innovations aimed at reducing plastic and minimizing packaging material usage. This involves encouraging participation and collaboration from platform consumers and retailers alike.”
Alibaba goals to improve carbon footprint
The group has an ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral in all their own operations. It also wants to half the energy intensity across their value chain. This is set to be achieved by 2030.
The business will also be driving emission reduction of 1.5 gigatons over 15 years in their platform ecosystem.
Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Daniel Zhang believes this is just the start of how the group wants to have a positive impact on their environment. “We believe this report reflects on the past and gives our commitments to the future. We know that actions speak louder than words, and that action is more important than consensus. Only through concrete, step-by-step action can we fulfill our responsibilities and truly create lasting, far-reaching, and meaningful value for our customers, employees, shareholders, and stakeholders.”
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Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.