Apple wants big firms forced to share carbon emissions data

Apple knows its actions often get emulated, but one thing it would like larger competitor to copy more is its commitment to the environment. Sure, there are critics of what the company does, but its annual environmental reports in conjunction with regular praise from most environmental groups, including Greenpeace, shows that even if it hasn’t got things perfect yet, it is at least trying.

Because information is power

Now it wants other companies to try equally hard, giving its backing to a California Senate bill that will require large companies to enumerate and report their greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Not every company would be bound to do so, but if you run a company with a turnover of one billion dollars or more, you’ll be required to.

“Throughout our environmental journey, we’ve emphasized the importance of measurement and reporting to help us understand our impact,” said a letter, signed by Apple’s director for state and local government affairs D. Michael Foulkes.

The letter was shared by the bill’s lead proponent, Senator Scott Wiener, last week.

Fighting climate change is one of Apple’s most urgent tasks

“Fighting climate change remains one of Apple’s most urgent priorities,” the letter explains, reprising the company’s goal to be carbon neutral across its global supply chain and the lifecycle of every product the company makes by 2030.

Within this attempt, Apple has chosen to voluntarily measure and publish its carbon emissions, and things encouraging accurate reporting of these, particularly Scope 3 product lifecycle emissions, is helpful.

After all, if you can’t measure them, then how can you reduce them.

“Your bill would encourage others to speed up their efforts towards carbon neutrality and push them to work with their supply chains, just as Apple is doing,” the letter ends.

Apple isn’t alone in supporting the bill. Adobe, Ikea, and Microsoft have all offered their support.

Caring consumers want to know who to avoid

But there’s little doubt that forcing large companies to disclose this data will expose those consumer electronics makers who do not make serious attempts mitigate against carbon emissions, and in the context of this year’s multiple sequence of climate anomalies, including the sudden death of at least 2,000 people in flooding in North Africa, this information is becoming increasingly important to consumers.

No matter what the deniers claim.

Apple has managed to expand the quantity operational renewable energy in use across Apple’s global supply chain by a magnitude of five since 2019. Competitors really should emulate that.

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