NEW YORK -- When a company pledges to reduce its carbon footprint, it starts by cutting emissions from its own buildings and vehicles. It can also opt to use renewable energy rather than purchase coal-generated electricity. For an e-commerce giant like Alibaba Group Holding, it can also team with partners up and down the value chain to, say, reduce excessive packaging and use greener delivery trucks.
Alibaba took it a step further Friday. In its first-ever "Carbon Neutrality Action Report," it vowed to "leverage" its digital platforms to encourage its entire ecosystem -- tens of millions of merchants and roughly a billion consumers -- to think and act greener. The goal, the Hangzhou, China-based company said, is to reduce 1.5 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions over 15 years by 2035.
