Apple takes aim at 100 percent net zero carbon neutrality by 2030

The tech giant announced this new ambitious commitment in the name of fighting climate change.

Apple has announced a major new climate change fighting commitment in the form of its intentions to achieve net zero carbon neutrality by 2030.

This commitment applies to the company’s entire business at all levels and life of its products.

The net zero carbon neutrality plan includes all stages of Apple’s business, which includes the supply chain, product manufacturing, and the life of the products it makes. This means that by 2030, an iPhone purchased in that year will have net zero climate impact, including the energy the consumer will be using to keep the device itself running, said the company.

Apple is aiming to reach this goal by shrinking carbon in its products, by using renewable energy, by selecting different materials to use and by actively removing atmospheric carbon, said a statement from the company.

“This is a moment not to move away from the great challenge of climate change,” said Apple vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, as quoted in a CNN Business report. “We wanted to step up and show we should all move even faster if we can because the situation is urgent and continuing to be more urgent.”

Companies have been increasing their efforts to achieve net zero carbon neutrality in coming decades.

Apple is far from alone among companies that are taking it upon themselves to set goals for going carbon neutral. Amazon has also announced its own intentions for coming decades.

That said, environmental groups are cautioning consumers to pay attention to the methods their favorite brands are using in order to meet their goals. On the surface, they can appear impressive, but it’s possible for companies to take their own climate impacts off the records by outsourcing dirtier tasks. For example, it is expected that some companies will start purchasing steel instead of making it in order to disassociate themselves from the emissions related to that process.

Still, Apple’s net zero carbon neutrality announcement came with a statement that said that it had already received commitments from more than 70 percent of its suppliers to use 100 percent renewable energy for production of its products.