Introduction

In 2020, Apple declared their corporate operations were carbon neutral and committed to achieving carbon neutrality for their products by 2030. They established their 2015 emissions (38.4 million metric tons CO2e) as the starting point and plan to cut them by 75% by 2030. The final 25% of emissions (9.6 million metric tons CO2e) will be offset through carbon reduction projects, ensuring their net emissions reach zero. But will they reach their goal?

Insights

Since the release of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple has made great progress in reducing the iPhone's carbon footprint by 29%. While also increasing baseline storage by 4x since 2015.

Apple's workforce has been steadily growing since 2015 but gross emissions have been declining. That's great news!

Are Apple's corporate operations still carbon neutral in 2022?

Apple's corporate operations are indeed still carbon neutral. Corporate now only makes up 1.6% of emissions, which is completely offset by carbon removals. But its product life cycle emissions are not yet carbon neutral.

Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, transportation and distribution contribute to the majority of gross emissions.

And within Scope 3 the product life cycle, mainly manufacturing, transportation and product use, are the main sources of emissions. Surprisingly, in 2022 they had zero carbon removals in this category.

Actions Apple is taking to reduce its emissions:

• Working with its suppliers to transition to 100% renewable energy.
• Using more recycled materials in its products.
• Designing its products to be more energy-efficient.
• Offering recycling programs for its products.

Conclusion

Apple's emissions have been steadily decreasing since 2015 at an average of 8.9% per year. And overall, between 2015 and 2022 are down a total of 46.32%. At this rate Apple is well on its way to reaching their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.