Amazon fights emissions transparency in Australia, citing 'trade secrets’

Amazon has applied to have its greenhouse gas emissions withheld from the public in Australia, amid international criticism for its lack of environmental transparency.

Amazon is facing global criticism for its lack of environmental transparency.

The technology giant has applied to the Australian Government's Clean Energy Regulator (CER) to keep its emissions and energy data for the 2017-18 financial year from publication.

In documents obtained by the ABC, Amazon claims that making their emissions data public could reveal to competitors a "trade secret" related to its data centres. 

The CER is still considering the application — which was made in October 2018 — and has published the 2017-18 corporate emissions and energy data list without Amazon's data.

Read the ABC News story by Ariel Bogle and Nick Kilvert - “Amazon fights emissions transparency in Australia, citing 'trade secrets’.”

(I have a Kindle - Amazon’s electronic book - and although I have asked many people, including climate specialists, which is more environmentally friendly, the Kindle or the traditional book, but I'm yet to get a clear answer.

 The traditional book demands the harvesting of trees, the printing of the actual book and its transport, often from distant places.

The Kindle is, of course, equally demanding on the environment as it has to be manufactured and its effectiveness hinges entirely on huge server farms, which are powered by electricity.

The answers are conditional and so come loaded many caveats.- Robert McLean)