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There’s news from Cupertino, and it isn’t about the new iPhone (not yet). Apple has pledged to go carbon neutral by 2030: That is, in 10 years time, the company aims to produce every Apple device with net zero climate impact. The ambitious plan released earlier this week lists initiatives that adhere to the golden principle of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, and a roadmap for implementing them at every step of its global operations.
But it’s 2020, and as sustainability champions will tell you, the lexicon on climate change action has grown far beyond that three-step chant. 1/4th of Apple’s 10-year plan is dedicated to reforestation and developing nature-based solutions to sequester carbon. The company has also instituted a new fund for this purpose.
In partnership with Conservation International, a Washington-based environmental non-profit organisation, Apple has actioned a plan to restore and protect a 27,000-acre mangrove forest in Cispatá Bay, in Colombia. The mangroves at Cispatá Bay alone could sequester 1 million metric tons of CO2 in its lifetime, if it remains healthy. There’s the added benefit that a strong “blue carbon” ecosystem, as mangroves are called, could act as buffers against rising sea levels along coastlines around the world.
Apple has also funded the restoration of a degraded savanna forest on the Chyulu Hills of Kenya. In addition, along with the WWF and Conservation Fund, the tech giant has protected and improved the management of over 1 million acres of forests in China and the United States.
The company is also supporting the development of sources of renewable energy. Apart from launching one of the largest new solar arrays in Scandinavia, two separate projects would empower energy-deficient communities in the Philippines and Thailand.
"Of course, we must always keep in mind that the cleanest energy is the energy we don't have to use at all," says Lisa Jackson, VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple, and former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
“You can't separate the planet from the people,” she adds. "The work that we're doing is about ensuring that we and future generations have a place to live that protects all of the people on this planet, not just people who are wealthy enough to move away from the problem. Climate justice is social justice.”
All images courtesy: Apple
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