As you’re browsing Amazon, you may have noticed a green label showing up in search results and product pages that call out that the item is “Climate Pledge Friendly.” What is this badge, how do these products earn the designation, and do Amazon shoppers care? Let’s explore these questions together.
What is the Climate Pledge?
The Climate Pledge is a program co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism in 2019 that calls on companies around the world to pledge to be carbon net zero by the year 2040. This means that any company participating in the program pledges to balance the amount of carbon they emit into the atmosphere by removing at least an equal amount of carbon in the same year.
When shopping on Amazon, an item labeled as Climate Pledge Friendly has either been certified by a third-party organization approved by Amazon or by one of Amazon’s own certifications. This then earns the item the Climate Pledge Friendly badge, indicating to the customer that the item is certified to be a more sustainable product. Amazon is making the search for eco-friendly products increasingly more accessible for environmentally-conscious consumers and any consumer curious about sustainability.
What Does This Mean for Your Products?
A recent survey found that 65% percent of consumers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by a company’s sustainability profile. Products enrolled in the Climate Pledge Friendly program on Amazon for two years or more have seen an average of 10% higher page views than non-certified products since launching. Shoppers can filter their searches to show Climate Pledge Friendly products only after they’ve started shopping:
Shoppers can even set their search bar to show only products enrolled in the program before they start their search:
The increased visibility of enrolled, certified products on Amazon is also shown on the product page. As the program continues to evolve, the tags and labels on the products get more specific in explaining how the product is sustainable. See this listing for colored pencils as an example:
Instead of simply showing that the pencils are Climate Pledge Friendly, the shopper can see that, specifically, these pencils are sustainable due to their forestry practices. To see what this means, the shopper can click on the green label for more information:
Not only can the shopper read an explanation of the certification type, but they can also see which agency, organization, or laboratory certified the product.
Products can have more than one certification displayed on the page:
Details for all certifications applied to the product are visible to the shopper:
How to Enroll in Amazon’s Climate Friendly Pledge
Investigating the sustainability of your product sourcing and other touchpoints in the product cycle may help align your business goals with your mission statements, depending on what they are. It may even be possible that some of your products already qualify for certification (see this database of reports and supplier lists and compare these standards with your current practices). If environmental sustainability and increased visibility on Amazon are important to your company and consumers, enrolling in the program starts with getting the product certified.
At this time of writing, Amazon has an Excel template that must be downloaded and shared with your chosen certifier. If you use Vendor Central, you can find the link to download it here. If you use Seller Central, you can find the link to download it here. Download the relevant template to start the certification process.
Then, see which third-party certifiers are approved by Amazon before you apply for certification or send the product for investigation to avoid starting this process with an unapproved certifier.
The certifier will then provide Amazon with the product data, which Amazon will validate. It is that simple for most product categories! Otherwise, you can qualify for the Climate Pledge Friendly tag by having products enrolled in Amazon’s Compact by Design or Pre-owned Certified programs if these are relevant to your business and product categories.
When awarded the Climate Pledge Friendly tag, you can amplify or emphasize your brand’s eco-friendliness in your product page’s A+ Content and Amazon Posts.
The certifier will determine if your product does not qualify for certification. If Amazon does not award you the Climate Pledge Friendly tag after your certifier says that your product is qualified and they send the product-level information to Amazon, you will need to contact Selling Partner Support and ask if there were any issues with the validation process.
The Climate Pledge Bottom Line
The conversation around environmental impacts and an individual’s carbon footprint is not ending any time soon. With the 10% increase in page views that Climate Pledge Friendly products have seen, it’s safe to say that Amazon shoppers are interested in products that align with their values. Nearly two-thirds of consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced by a company’s sustainability position! Meet your environmentally-conscious shoppers where they’re at. If they see that your brand or product shares their interest in sustainability and concerns for the environment, that shopper might be more likely to buy from you. They may even remain loyal to your business since your interests align!
