Amazon Launches Climate Pledge Friendly Badge

As many of us who interact with Amazon Vendor Central know, in recent years there has been pushback on any claims that a product or service is “eco-friendly”, often resulting in a request to provide the certification to prove these claims. Well, the process has reached a more useful conclusion, with Amazon now showing a “Climate Pledge Friendly” badge next to products that qualify.

The system has been rolled out in the US and across France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK, with around 40,000 products being part of the new scheme. To qualify, products must hold one of 18 existing Eco certifications (including the Rainforest Alliance and Responsible Wool Standard), or be part of Amazon’s own Compact by Design. This certification applies to products that “remove excess air and water, which reduces the carbon footprint of delivery and packaging”.

The Climate Pledge Friendly badge appears on both search results and product pages, and can be expanded to show the specific certification that applies.

Currently, only 15 external certifications have products available on the UK site, with the lion’s share coming from Amazon’s Compact by Design. There have also been teething problems, with the launch beset by claims from groups that environmentally-unsound products such as flushable wipes were being given certifications. However, Amazon states that this the beginning of a long process where they plan to range more products and work with more certifications in the future.

With ethical consumerism being a trend that shows no sign of slowing down, the launch of a specialised eco store on Amazon seems like a smart move. However, it appears that the store and products it contains are currently not the easiest to find.