eBay has published its first climate transition plan, setting out how the e-commerce company intends to reach net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2045.
The plan outlines measures to further decarbonise eBay’s own operations, alongside a strong emphasis on reducing emissions from downstream transportation and distribution, which account for the majority of the company’s carbon footprint. The strategy also addresses emissions across the wider value chain and the neutralisation of any remaining emissions.
According to the plan, scope 3 emissions make up almost all of eBay’s footprint, while scope 1 and 2 emissions represented just 0.2% of total emissions in 2024. Much of the anticipated emissions reduction is expected to come through collaboration with logistics and transport partners.
The transition plan follows eBay’s announcement of value-chain climate targets in 2024. The company first set emissions reduction targets in 2021, including a 90% cut in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and a 20% reduction in downstream transportation and distribution emissions over the same period, compared with a 2019 baseline. These targets were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
In 2025, eBay expanded its commitments to include a net-zero target and additional scope 3 goals, which were also validated. These include a 27.5% reduction in downstream transportation and distribution emissions by 2030, a 90% cut in absolute scope 3 emissions by 2045, and maintaining at least a 90% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2045.
“eBay’s Climate Transition Plan is a comprehensive roadmap for how we will meet our climate-related commitments while strengthening the long-term resilience and competitiveness of our business,” said Renee Morin, eBay’s Chief Sustainability Officer, in the plan’s foreword.
Morin said developing the net-zero target took several years of internal work. “Producing a transition plan was the next natural step for eBay,” she said.
Downstream transportation and distribution account for 83.9% of eBay’s total emissions. As the company does not own or operate delivery fleets or warehouses, reducing these emissions relies heavily on external partners, which the plan describes as both a challenge and a key lever for change.
“We have an internal shipping team that has relationships with our external carriers, and we’ve spent the last four or five years really looking not just at the data, but also those relationships,” Morin said, adding that this engagement helps align eBay’s climate goals with those of its carriers.
eBay expects 46% of its emissions reductions to come from carrier collaboration, noting that several major partners, including DHL, UPS and FedEx, have fleet decarbonisation or net-zero targets in place. A further 22% of reductions are expected to come from wider industry collaboration with other shipping companies and non-governmental organisations.
The plan also highlights progress on operational emissions. In 2024, eBay reached its goal of powering operations with 100% renewable electricity a year ahead of schedule. The company said it aims to maintain this benchmark through long-term energy contracts and capacity buffers.
eBay has already achieved a 92% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions, exceeding its 2030 target, and said it intends to maintain these reductions through to 2045.
To address residual emissions, the company plans to use “permanent and durable” carbon removals by 2045. Morin said eBay is still at an early stage in developing its carbon removal strategy.
“We’ve spent a lot of time the last couple of years understanding what the net-zero path looks like,” she said. “We have started exploring what our carbon removal investments will look like, and that will build as we get closer to 2030 and 2045.”
