The Seattle NHL team doesn’t have a name yet, but its arena does, after Amazon secured the naming rights for the old Key Arena. But if you guessed that the new name would be Amazon Arena, surprise! It will be officially known as the Climate Pledge Arena, a nod to the CEO of the $ 2 billion initiative that Jeff Bezos announced last year, which sets goals for Amazon to become carbon neutral by 2040.
Of course, that initiative only came after thousands of Amazon employees signed an open letter to Bezos and Amazon’s board of directors asking the company to adopt a comprehensive plan to combat climate change. It’s worth noting that earlier this year, Amazon warned several employees who were part of that drive that they had violated its communications policy.
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In addition to being the home of the Seattle NHL franchise, the 18,100-seat multipurpose arena will be the home field for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and will host live events. It is undergoing a $ 900 million renovation and is slated to reopen next summer.
Climate Pledge Arena will be the world’s first certified zero-carbon arena, Amazon says, and the venue will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy and generate zero waste from operations and events. Additionally, it will use reclaimed rainwater to create the ice surface for hockey games.
Amazon has also pushed for several other climate-focused projects. Bezos himself pledged $ 10 billion for a self-styled fund that will provide grants to “scientists, activists, and NGOs” working to combat climate change. Amazon launched a venture capital investment program called the Climate Pledge Fund earlier this week, which will allocate $ 2 billion to environmentally focused clean energy startups, and in April launched a $ 10 million grant program. for forest conservation as part of the Climate Pledge program.
However, Amazon’s overly criticized packaging issue needs to be considered. Whether that can be offset by green-tinted, environmentally-focused sports sand is up for debate.
