Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, Kara Hurst, admitted on Tuesday that the company does not yet have a complete roadmap for achieving its goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Speaking at an Axios event, Hurst emphasized that while the target remains unchanged, the company is still figuring out how to get there. “We are still striving towards that target,” she said, adding that she is “not going to sit here and say, ‘We know all the ways that we’re going to do this.’” Despite this uncertainty, Amazon has made significant strides in recent years in reducing its environmental impact. Hurst highlighted that the company is one of the world’s largest buyers of clean energy, with 42 gigawatts of renewable energy in its portfolio. She also noted that Amazon has reduced its carbon intensity — the amount of pollution it generates per dollar of revenue — although this improvement is time-sensitive. For example, carbon intensity rose slightly last year compared to 2024, though it remained lower than in 2022. Amazon operates across nearly every sector of the economy, from aviation and artificial intelligence to agriculture and construction. As a result, its carbon emissions are widespread, and the company relies on suppliers across these industries to meet its sustainability goals. “This is not something we can do alone,” Hurst said, underscoring the need for collaboration. While Amazon holds itself accountable to its own Climate Pledge goal of net-zero emissions by 2040, it also faces challenges in aligning its operations with that vision. One such challenge comes from recent decisions that contradict its climate leadership. Earlier this year, an investigation uncovered Amazon’s plans to build a 7.65 gigawatt natural gas power plant to support an AI data center campus. The facility, which would include 35 turbines, could emit up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide annually — making it the largest single source of carbon pollution in the United States. This project highlights the tension between Amazon’s sustainability goals and its ongoing reliance on fossil fuels for energy needs.