Apple Vows to go 100% Carbon-Neutral by 2030

Apple has joined the chorus of big companies vowing to go carbon-neutral over the next couple decades.

Already carbon-neutral for its global corporate operations, the Cupertino juggernaut has vowed to do the same for its business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycles by 2030.

In a recent press release, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, noted that, “The innovations powering our environmental journey are not only good for the planet — they’ve helped us make our products more energy efficient and bring new sources of clean energy online around the world.”

Of course, Apple’s not the first high-profile company to make a similar pledge. Far from it.

Google has been carbon-neutral as far back as 2007, and Microsoft and Heathrow Airport in London promised to do the same by 2030. Delta invested $1 billion to be the world’s first carbon-neutral airline, Amazon wants to be carbon-neutral by 2040, and Starbucks aims to be “resource positive” within a decade.

Course, with terms like zero carbon, carbon negative, climate positive, and resource positive floating around, you might be wondering what “carbon neutral” means.

According to the British Assessment Bureau, “carbon neutral” involves counterbalancing the total amount of energy consumed by a company and the associated emissions with green technologies and/or carbon removal. It’s as simple (and complicated) as that and could potentially include carbon-trading schemes, which are controversial (to say the least).

Either way, it’s a step in the right direction, and let’s face it – it’s great PR.

Read Apple’s press release here.