April 11, 2023
Update
Apple expands innovation recovery fund for carbon removal
A new fund with climate asset management adds another option to secure high-impact, measurable and nature-based carbon offsets.
Apple has announced a major expansion of the Restore Fund to double its overall commitment to advancing high-quality nature-based carbon removal projects. Originally launched in 2021 with up to $200 million in commitments from Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, the Restore Fund is now set to grow with additional funding, including a new investment from Apple and new carbon offset projects. Apple created the Restore Fund to encourage global investment to protect and restore critical ecosystems and scale natural carbon sequestration solutions. This approach helps businesses address residual emissions that cannot be avoided or reduced with current technology.
As part of the expansion, Apple will invest up to $200 million more in the new fund, which will be jointly run by Climate Asset Management – HSBC Asset Management and Pollination. The new portfolio aims to significantly remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year while generating financial returns for investors. For Apple’s suppliers who partner in the fund, it offers a new way to incorporate high-impact carbon removal projects into their carbon footprint.
“The Restoration Fund is an innovative investment approach that generates real, measurable benefits for our planet,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environmental, policy and social initiatives. The path to a carbon-neutral economy requires deep decarbonization combined with responsible carbon removal, and innovation like this can help accelerate the process.
Apple and Climate Asset Management are taking a broad approach to conservation projects by combining two different types of investments: eco-friendly agriculture projects that generate income from sustainably managed agricultural practices and projects that protect and restore critical ecosystems that remove and store carbon from the atmosphere. This unique hybrid fund structure aims to deliver both financial and climate benefits to investors, developing a new carbon removal model that fully addresses the global potential of nature-based solutions. All Restore Fund investments are subject to strict social and environmental standards.
Already carbon neutral for its corporate operations, last year Apple called on its suppliers to become carbon neutral in all Apple-related operations by 2030, including all direct and electricity-related emissions, Scope 1 and Scope 2. High-quality carbon removal helps achieve this goal by offsetting any direct emissions that cannot be eliminated or reduced. Suppliers are expected to reduce emissions by first switching to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and reducing indirect emissions. Earlier this month, Apple announced that more than 250 manufacturing partners have pledged to power their Apple products with 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.
Located in Brazil and Paraguay, Apple’s first three investments with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs aim to restore 150,000 hectares of sustainably certified working forests and protect an additional 100,000 hectares of indigenous forests, grasslands and wetlands. Together, these projects are projected to remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2025. Leading scientific bodies such as the IPCC have emphasized that carbon sequestration is critical to tackling climate change and meeting global climate goals.
To accurately track and measure the impact of Restore Fund projects, Apple is deploying new remote sensing technologies – including Space Intelligence Carbon and Habitat Mapping, Upstream Tech’s Lens platform, and high-resolution satellite images of habitat and forest carbon maps of project areas. These detailed maps help projects meet our high standards before investment and measure and verify the projects’ carbon emissions impact over time. Apple is further investigating the use of a lidar scanner on the iPhone to enhance its tracking capabilities on the ground.
In the year The Restore Fund is part of the company’s overall roadmap to become carbon neutral by 2030 for its entire supply chain and the lifecycle of each product. Apple will reduce 75 percent of all emissions by 2030 and offset the remaining emissions with high-quality carbon removal.
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Sean Redding
Apple
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