Amazon announced the launch of a new program, Climate Pledge Friendly, designed to enable customers to discover and shop for more sustainable products, by providing labelling signifying that the products align with various natural preservation goals. As part of this initiative, Amazon is also introducing Compact by Design certification, identifying products with more efficient, sustainable designs.

The Climate Pledge Friendly initiative spans across multiple product categories, including grocery, household, fashion, beauty, and personal electronics products. Customers searching for over 25,000 products will find products that have one or more of 19 different sustainability certifications clearly labelled in shopping results, with additional sustainability information on the product page. The products will also be featured in a dedicated section of Amazon’s store.

Amazon stated that it partnered with trusted third-party certifications for the Climate Pledge Friendly certifications.

Compact by design is an externally-validated certification that identifies products which, while they may not always look very different, have a more efficient design. According to Amazon, the removal from the product design of excess air or water results in the need for less packaging, and enables more efficient shipping, leading in aggregate to significant carbon emission reductions.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, said:

“Climate Pledge Friendly is a simple way for customers to discover more sustainable products that help preserve the natural world. With 18 external certification programs and our own Compact by Design certification, we’re incentivizing selling partners to create sustainable products that help protect the planet for future generations.”

Fabian Garcia, President of Unilever North America, producer of several brands available through the program, said:

“In line with our mission to make sustainable living commonplace, we are delighted to partner with Amazon on its Climate Pledge Friendly initiative. Amazon’s initiative will drive scale and impact for more sustainable consumption by helping customers easily discover products that are Climate Pledge Friendly and encourage the manufacturers to make their products more sustainable. Unilever is committed to delivering products that provide the best experience for consumers while reducing the impact that our products and our operations have on the environment.”

William McDonough, co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, one of the  Climate Pledge Friendly third party certifiers, said:

“Cradle to Cradle certification provides a framework for product optimization based on the principles of designing with safe and healthy materials, using clean renewable energy and water, celebrating diversity, and eliminating the concept of waste. We love that Amazon is making it simple for customers to find sustainable products. Amazon’s new program will expand our reach and enable us to empower more brands to deliver safer and more sustainable products for the circular economy.”