Apple just made an important announcement that it is aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. The
company plans to cut off its greenhouse gas pollution by 75% and eliminate the
remaining 25% by working on its heat trap emissions.
Apple released a
2020 Environmental Report that states that last year, it had managed to cut its
carbon dioxide emissions by 4.3 million metric tons. This was a remarkable initiative
as it represented a 35% drop in carbon dioxide emissions since 2015, which was
the year of the company’s peak. However, looking solely at the amount of its
carbon dioxide emissions in 2019, it still pumped out an enormous 25.1 million
metric tons of the gas.
The good news is
that Apple has focused on using recycled materials and improving the energy
efficiency of its products, hence causing a reduction in its planet heating
pollution. Compared to the energy efficiency of Apple’s products 11 years ago, its
products now use 75% less energy on average.
According to
Apple, its operations became carbon neutral in April of this year, in relation
to emissions from its facilities and business travels. The company is now
focused on purchasing enough renewable energy to get its global operations
started.
The challenge to reduce
emissions from the manufacturing of its products will be a hard one for the
company. However, it is determined to collaborate with suppliers that run on
renewable energy. The company has claimed to have made a commitment with over
70 suppliers for its renewable energy production. The company believes that
with this initiative, it will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
equivalent to taking 3 million cars off the road yearly.
Moreover, instead
of investing in modern technologies, Apple has chosen to work with
environmental groups such as Conservation International for the protection and
restoration of forests and mangrove trees that are natural reservoirs of carbon
dioxide.
Apple’s recent environmental
commitments came out after climate goals set by Microsoft and Amazon. Both companies
had claimed of becoming carbon neutral. Amazon, however, released 15% more carbon
dioxide last year as compared to the year before, contrary to its commitments.
