Could Apple — one among the world’s largest, most successful and most visible corporations — really turn into a totally net zero business by the tip of the last decade? The tech giant is increasingly confident it might, and this week unveiled a sweeping package of recent investments and initiatives designed to slash emissions across its sprawling global supply chain.
Last month, Apple called on its global supply chain partners to take further steps to deal with their greenhouse gas emissions, because the tech giant pushed forward with its ambitions to attain net zero across its value chain and the lifecycle of its products by 2030.
Setting out a raft of fresh steps and measures to decarbonize its supply chain, the worldwide tech giant said it would evaluate the work of all of its major manufacturing partners with a purpose to help decarbonize their Apple-related operations, including running on one hundred pc renewable energy and tracking progress annually.
“Fighting climate change stays one among Apple’s most urgent priorities, and moments like this put motion to those words,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive officer. “We’re looking forward to continued partnership with our suppliers to make Apple’s supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. Climate motion at Apple doesn’t stop at our doors, and on this work, we’re determined to be a ripple within the pond that creates a much bigger change.”
Apple claims it has been carbon neutral from all of its corporate operations since 2020 and said it’s “laser-focused” on its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral across its entire supply chain.
Apple said said it’s ‘laser-focused’ on its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral across its entire supply chain.
Along with addressing emissions across its supply chain, Apple also revealed plans to facilitate the development of large-scale solar and wind projects in Europe, with projects ranging between 30MW and 300MW.
The corporate said that over the approaching years it goals to supply enough renewable energy to power all its devices on the continent with low-carbon electricity, in addition to power its global portfolio of corporate offices, Apple stores and data centers with one hundred pc clean energy.
In total, Apple estimated the planned investments will add around 3,000-gigawatt hours per yr of renewable energy on the grid.
The most recent investments in European renewables projects form a part of Apple’s wider strategy to deal with the estimated 22 percent of its carbon footprint which comes from the electricity which customers use to charge their Apple devices.
Wherever possible, Apple said it plans to bring clean energy projects online for national power grids that currently boast relatively high carbon intensity, in order to maximise its impact on a European electricity sector where recent renewable generation capability is “critically needed.”
The corporate said it goals to power its global portfolio of corporate offices, Apple stores and data centers with 100% clean energy.
The strategy follows similar announcements earlier this yr of recent renewable energy projects within the U.S. and Australia which have similarly been designed to deal with emissions related to customer product use.
The brand new projects construct on Apple’s existing portfolio of renewables projects and tariffs, which have been powering all its corporate offices, retail stores and data centers across 44 countries with renewable energy since 2018.
As well as, the corporate announced it’s partnering with its worldwide supply chain to induce accelerated motion to attain carbon neutrality for partners’ Apple-related corporate operations.
Moving forwards, the corporate said it would require its supply chain partners to report their progress on these goals and specifically Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reductions related to Apple production in addition to tracking and auditing annual progress.
Moreover, Apple said it’s encouraging its suppliers to deal with the greenhouse gas emissions beyond the production of Apple products by prioritizing the sourcing of green energy.
As a part of the corporate’s work to attain its 2030 goal, Apple said it has reduced its emissions by 40 percent since 2015, which it said it achieved largely through improvements in energy efficiency, low-carbon design, carbon neutrality across its corporate operations, and transitioning its supply chain to renewable electricity.
The corporate said it would require its supply chain partners to report their progress on these goals and specifically Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reductions related to Apple production.
Based on Apple, greater than 200 of its suppliers representing greater than 70 percent of its direct manufacturing spend have already committed to using clean power comparable to wind and solar for the production of all its products. Thus far, its suppliers are said to have brought greater than 10GW of unpolluted power online around the globe
These manufacturing partners include corporations Corning Incorporated, Nitto Denko Corporation, SK Hynix, STMicroelectronics, TSMC and Yuto. Apple said they’ve all committed to power the production of Apple products with one hundred pc renewable energy.
As well as, Apple is offering its suppliers free e-learning resources and live training through its Clean Energy Program to assist its suppliers and native partners discover opportunities and solutions for renewable energy and carbon removal projects across their supply chains.
The tech giant can also be in search of to showcase its decarbonization push to its customers, having recently announced a recent initiative within the U.S. called Clean Energy Charging which helps customers decrease the carbon footprint of their iPhones.
Available from this month through the iOS 16 platform, the brand new feature looks on the sources of electricity available during expected charge times and optimizes for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources comparable to solar or wind.
The brand new feature looks on the sources of electricity available during expected charge times and optimizes for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources comparable to solar or wind.
The innovation follows Apple’s joining of the University of California, Berkley’s CoolClimate Network, a research partnership founded to motivate and empower individuals to make more low-carbon decisions.
At the identical time, the corporate is seeking to advance its carbon offset efforts, this week announcing three recent projects from its Restore Fund — which Apple describes as a first-of-its kind carbon removal initiative that goals to generate financial returns while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In partnership with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, Apple announced it has invested with three forestry managers in Brazil and Paraguay to revive 150,000 acres of sustainably certified working forests and protect around 100,000 acres of native forests, grasslands and wetlands.
Together, Apple estimates these initial forestry projects are forecast to remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in 2025. To make sure accurate monitoring, reporting and verification of the projects’ carbon removal impact, Apple said it’s working with partners to research satellite imagery and deploy modern distant sensing technologies.
While Apple said it expected to make good progress to cut back its overall emissions by 75 percent by 2030, it explained it could look to prioritize nature-based solutions for the remaining 25 percent of emissions which it said were “unavoidable” with existing technologies.
Along with the brand new Restore Fund projects announced this week, Apple unveiled a variety of recent partnerships which it said it hopes would advance “community-driven” climate solutions around the globe. These include a recent partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Namibia and Zimbabwe to advertise climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through the Climate Crowd program — a platform that works closely with communities facing the worst impacts of climate change.
These include a recent partnership with the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia and Zimbabwe to advertise climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through the Climate Crowd program.
In China, Apple said it has partnered with China Green Carbon Foundation to conduct research, exhibit best practices, and construct stakeholder networks in support of goals to extend the quantity and quality of responsibly managed nature-based carbon sinks.
Apple said the partnership will discover and map prioritized areas in Sichuan province, in addition to develop best practice guidelines and methods for forest management that could possibly be replicated in other regions. The corporate said it would also support a pilot in Chengdu to exhibit carbon removal potential in urban and semi-urban areas, which can help establish best practices for carrying out carbon removal projects in urban areas of China, while improving climate adaptation and resilience.
In Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, Apple announced it’s launching a recent partnership with ChangemakerXchange to strengthen climate motion and leadership within the region. By making a network to attach, construct, and promote youth-led climate innovation, Apple said it would help link solutions to funding opportunities and enhance climate leadership skills.
Apple said it formally will launch the initiative in Egypt on the COP27 Climate Summit next month, before supporting a gaggle of 100 change-makers and social innovators, including 50 from Europe and 50 from the Middle East and North Africa.
Can Apple deliver on its hugely ambitious net zero targets? Critics will point to the large and continued impact of the extractive minerals and metals industries that sit at the basis of its supply chain, the large levels of e-waste exacerbated by its practice of continually upgrading its products, and its reliance on nature-based carbon removal projects that will or may not deliver on their promise, and query whether a brand that’s synonymous with consumer culture can ever be truly low impact. But Apple will counter that it’s investing billions of dollars and harnessing its world-leading technologies and culture of innovation to exhibit how even the world’s largest corporations can slash their emissions inside a decade. Given the size and reach of Apple’s net zero efforts, it would be fascinating and hugely informative to look at its progress.
