Apple’s carbon-neutral goal gathers pace as it brings 2GW of renewable energy online in China

The switch to green energy will help to avoid emissions of 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually in China, the company says
Some 15 Chinese suppliers have joined Apple’s clean energy programme since July, moving their production to 100 per cent renewable energy

Renewable energy

Yujie Xue

Published: 5:30pm, 1 Apr 2021

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Apple has made deep inroads in helping its suppliers in China transition to renewable energy and achieve its carbon-neutral target by 2030 by exceeding its goal of bringing online over 2 gigawatts of renewable energy on the mainland.

By surpassing its green energy goal, the Cupertino, California-based company said it can avoid the emission of nearly 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually in China – the equivalent of taking nearly 1 million cars off the road each year.

Last July, Apple said it planned to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain and product life cycle by 2030. It is already carbon neutral today in its global corporate operations, and has been working on its global manufacturing supply chain by significantly increasing the number of suppliers that are transitioning to renewable energy.

“We are committed to protecting the planet and helping to advance the transition to a greener economy. That’s why we are accelerating our renewable energy efforts,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on China’s Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo on Thursday. “We will continue this urgent work to protect the precious resources we all share.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook says that the company is committed to protecting the planet and helping to advance the transition to a greener economy. Photo: Instagram

Some 15 Chinese suppliers have joined Apple’s clean energy programme since July, moving their production to 100 per cent renewable energy, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Although Apple did not provide names of the Chinese suppliers that have joined the programme, its mainland-based suppliers include GoerTek, Lens Technology, and Shenzhen Desay Battery, according to Bloomberg’s analytics. Some of Apple’s biggest suppliers in China are Taiwanese manufacturers with facilities in the mainland, including Hon Hai Precision Industry, Pegatron, Quanta Computer, and TSMC.

To help Chinese suppliers with limited access to clean energy, Apple launched the China Clean Energy Fund in 2018 to connect suppliers with renewable energy projects. In the joint commitment with 10 of its suppliers in China, Apple promised to directly invest nearly US$300 million in developing renewable energy projects in the country.

Some of the projects financed by Apple since the fund’s launch include two wind farms in Hunan province developed by Concord New Energy Group and another by Fenghua Energy Investment Group in Hebei province.

The company said on Wednesday that the funds will be fully utilised by the end of next year to support a series of projects to add another 1GW of renewable energy.

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“Apple is committed to leading the way in saving the planet, addressing climate change and conserving the resources we all share,” said Isabel Ge Mahe, Apple’s vice-president and managing director of Greater China. “By collaborating with our local partners, we are helping to preserve China’s clean waters and green mountains for the benefit of future generations.”

Apple said that over 110 of its manufacturing partners around the world are moving to 100 per cent renewable energy, with nearly 8GW of planned clean energy expected to come online. Once completed, these commitments would save over 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to take more than 3.4 million cars off the road each year.

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