Apple to be carbon neutral for its entire business by 2030
Apple has said it will remove all carbon emissions across its supply chain and products by 2030, having already become carbon neutral in its corporate operations.
The tech giant said its thousands of suppliers will be required to be carbon neutral within the next decade.
It aims to achieve 75 per cent of this goal by reducing emissions, while the remaining quarter will come from carbon removal or offsetting schemes.
This means major contract manufacturers such as Hon Hai Precision Industry’s Foxconn will be expected to comply with Apple’s targets in order to stay on the books.
Apple said that 74 per cent of its overall carbon emissions are currently generated by product manufacturing. To address this, it will help set up a $100m US-China Green Fund to provide capital investments to suppliers for energy efficiency projects.
“Businesses have a profound opportunity to help build a more sustainable future, one born of our common concern for the planet we share,” said Apple boss Tim Cook.
“Climate action can be the foundation for a new era of innovative potential, job creation, and durable economic growth. With our commitment to carbon neutrality, we hope to be a ripple in the pond that creates a much larger change.”
The iPhone maker’s nature-based strategy contrasts with other companies such as Microsoft, which earlier this year said it would invest $1bn over the next four years in engineering-based carbon removal technologies.
In a published roadmap, Apple said it has been working with suppliers to reduce emissions by using recycled materials.
Its iPhones now use recycled rare earth elements, which are energy intensive to mine and often used in amounts too small to make recycling economical.
Apple’s most recent environmental report in 2018 put its carbon footprint at 25.2 million tons.