Amazon has been criticized for its lack of environmental transparency. The reason is that the company has not disclosed information about the energy consumption of its cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Stakeholders are increasingly demanding information about company consumption behaviors as concerns over sustainability rise. Many businesses are investing in renewable energy, and Amazon is no exception. It claims its AWS is more energy-efficient than rivals. However, Greenpeace questions these claims because Amazon has not provided specific information to back it up. Nineteen AWS clients signed a letter calling for Amazon to be more transparent about its energy consumption.

Is energy usage at AWS an ethical issue? From a social responsibility perspective, who are Amazon’s most important stakeholders as they relate to AWS energy usage? . From a societal and political perspective, will Google have a competitive advantage if Amazon continues refusing to release information about its AWS energy consumption?