An environmental group that has given Apple high marks says in a new report that Apple needs to disclose more information about its suppliers to back up its claims about its first carbon-neutral product. A new report claims Apple has stepped back on supply chain emissions transparency. This makes it difficult to understand how Apple can market its products as carbon neutral—that is, the company produces no more carbon dioxide emissions than it can capture or offset when producing its devices.
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"We believe that given the increased carbon emissions of some suppliers, full disclosure and explanation of how Apple achieves carbon neutrality in its products is warranted."
"We believe that given the increased carbon emissions of some suppliers, full disclosure and explanation of how Apple achieves carbon neutrality in its products is warranted," said the report, which was published by the Institute of Public Environment (IPE), a Beijing-based nonprofit environmental research organization founded by former investigative journalist Ma Jun.
Apple released its latest Apple Watch last month and said "selected" case and band material combinations can achieve carbon neutrality. To become carbon neutral, Apple said it reduces emissions from materials, electricity and transportation with the help of suppliers that use clean energy. The remaining pollution is offset through nature-based projects, such as restoring forests so they can capture more carbon dioxide.
According to Apple, more than 300 of its suppliers have committed to using "100% clean energy" to produce Apple products by 2030. Apple itself aims to become carbon neutral across its operations, supply chain and the life cycle of all its products by 2030.
But the report said Apple stopped requiring its suppliers to publicly disclose greenhouse gas emissions data this year. Based on data collected by IPE in the past, the calculation results do not exactly match:
What is puzzling is that while global smartphone shipments will drop by 12% in 2022, Apple's supply chain emissions data collected through various channels show that the carbon emissions of some of its suppliers have only declined slightly, and some are even increasing.
Apple said that "100% of the electricity used for production of its Apple Watch Ultra 2, Alpine Loop and Trail Loop comes from clean energy." "The report said: "Given that Apple's suppliers do not publicly disclose their clean energy use and greenhouse gas emission data, how can they publicly verify that the manufacturing process of these three carbon-neutral Apple Watch products uses 100% clean electricity? "
Although more and more companies claim to use clean energy, in reality it is difficult to do so because there are not enough renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Many companies, including Apple, have purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs) to achieve these goals. The certificates are supposed to support clean energy projects and bring more solar and wind farms online, but financial incentives aren't always enough to make that happen.
IPE points out that behind sustainability claims, there can be many thorny accounting issues. For example, instead of using renewable energy certificates to reduce the company's overall carbon footprint, Apple could theoretically put these renewable energy certificates with certain products so that it could say that specific devices are carbon neutral.
Apple told InsideClimateNews that this is not the case with its carbon-neutral watch. The company also said in a statement that it requires suppliers to share the emissions associated with their products with Apple and said it "works closely with suppliers to help them source more renewable energy." The company also said its new carbon-neutral products have been certified by third-party SCS Global Services.
Without this data, it is difficult to determine whether a company has had any positive impact on the environment. While some iterations of the Apple Watch have achieved carbon neutrality, the iPhone 15 has a larger carbon footprint than the iPhone 14.
IPE published an investigation into contamination in Apple's supply chain in 2011, which appears to have contributed to Apple's change. Before Apple reportedly stopped requiring suppliers to disclose their emissions this year, the company was awarded a "Master Level" designation by IPE in the 2019 Corporate Information Transparency Index. Apple touted the designation in its 2022 progress report, calling IPE a "leading" environmental research organization.
IPE director Ma Jun told InsideClimateNews: "Apple has been one of the top performers in our many years of index evaluation, so we do give it a thumbs up for that, but when it starts claiming that it is a carbon-neutral product, that's a very high standard, and I think it requires a higher level of information disclosure."