Alibaba Pledges to Become Carbon Neutral in Its Operations by 2030

For many companies, the majority of their carbon footprint comes from indirect emissions through their supply chain. A significant decarbonization effort often requires companies to work with their suppliers and manufacturers. Alibaba relies on a wide-reaching web of manufacturers, logistics companies and other service providers.

Actions that Alibaba plans to take include using more renewable energy for its data centers and working with logistics providers that employ electric vehicles. Alibaba Cloud is committed to powering its cloud computing with 100% clean energy no later than 2030.

Amazon.com Inc.

said last year that it would add a fleet of 100,000 electric delivery vehicles in a drive to be carbon neutral by 2040.

Alibaba didn’t say how much capital it plans to deploy to achieve these goals.

In addition, the online retailing giant will target emissions by participants on its platforms such as consumers and merchants with initiatives that reward or encourage environment-friendly behavior, with an aim to reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 gigatons generated by 2035.

“We will leverage our unique influence as a platform operator to mobilize actions and behavioral changes among consumers, merchants and partners in China and around the world,” Mr. Zhang said.

Alibaba will set up a new oversight body for environmental, social and governance issues that will include a sustainability committee at the board level chaired by independent director

Jerry Yang,

the Yahoo Inc. co-founder.

One of China’s most iconic companies, Alibaba has been grappling with a mountain of challenges over the past year. A flurry of regulatory actions has clipped the wings of the once-highflying e-commerce giant and its fintech affiliate Ant Group Co.

Jack Ma,

the billionaire founder, has largely retreated from the public spotlight. Growth on its platforms is slowing down as competitions rise.

Since a few months ago,  Mr. Zhang has been devolving more power to various business units, making them more agile at tackling competition. The company recently reshffuled its e-commerce teams and appointed a new chief financial officer.

Write to Jing Yang at Jing.Yang@wsj.com