Apple’s Carbon Neutrality Pledge
Apple’s Going Carbon Neutral
On July 21st, 2020, Apple released that it would be carbon neutral across all supply chains and products by 2030. This is great news - if you’re American, chances are that you’re reading this on an Apple device now. From another perspective, Apple’s calculated 2018 carbon footprint was equivalent to nearly 0.5% of all CO2 emitted in the United States. Like many major international corporations, Apple has been actively tracking its carbon footprint since the late 2000s, and even went partially carbon neutral by offsetting all corporate emissions. Beyond the typical actions of investing in renewable energies and sourcing environmentally friendly materials, the company has been developing the Impact Accelerator, a program focused on investing in minority-owned businesses working to advance positive change within Apple’s supply chain and in the areas most heavily affected by global warming. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, believes that “systemic racism and climate change are not separate issues, and they will not abide separate solutions” - a sentiment explored several weeks ago by our own Carbon Consultant, Nick Liang.
Carbon Neutrality Pledges Across the Industry
Apple’s pledge is nowhere near the first. Within the past three years, the technology industry has seen a steep increase in carbon neutrality goal announcements - from Facebook, Netflix, and Lyft in 2018; Amazon, Atlassian, Intuit and Etsy in 2019; and Microsoft, and now, Apple, in 2020. Each of these organizations have recognized and begun to act upon the benefits of carbon neutrality. While most would assume that the primary rewards are purely altruistic, the world’s most influential leaders are acknowledging the business case as well. Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that “businesses have a profound opportunity to help build a more sustainable future” and that “climate action can be the foundation for a new era of innovative potential, job creation, and durable economic growth.”
RyeStrategy’s Commitment
At RyeStrategy, we believe in helping companies to achieve the economic, social, and environmental rewards of carbon neutrality. While the world may be going through unprecedented times, the issue of climate change has not gone away. Consumers and companies have continued to invest their time and money in sustainability - a trend which will only increase as we near major climate target years, such as 2025, or in Apple’s and Microsoft’s case, 2030. This movement, however, will not just be led by the Apples and Microsofts of the world - in order to achieve true sustainability, it will require global action from all peoples, governments, and small businesses. As Tim Cook puts it, “with our commitment to carbon neutrality, we hope to be a ripple in the pond that creates a much larger change.”
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About RyeStrategy
Based in Seattle, RyeStrategy is a CDP-accredited, mission-oriented company specialized in carbon accounting, mitigation coaching, and climate disclosure solutions for organizations at any point in their sustainability journey. Learn how RyeStrategy helped Salesforce, Ideascale, and Wazoku achieve their sustainability goals.
From exhaustive carbon footprinting and mitigation coaching, to setting science-based targets and reporting climate data to CDP, SBTi or custom reporting platforms, RyeStrategy acts as a hands-on extension of the team, custom-tailoring services to fulfill climate disclosure requirements easily and accurately.
Meet with a sustainability specialist to learn more about RyeStrategy solutions.
