Apple funded 17 Green Bond projects in 2020, to help create 1.2GW of clean power

As part of the company's planned $4.7 billion Green Bond spend, Apple has funded 17 Green Bond projects in 2020. These projects will avoid an average of 921,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually, which is equivalent to removing nearly 200,000 cars from the road, says Apple. The projects will generate 1.2 gigawatts of renewable energy globally, with Apple adding over 350 megawatts of newly installed renewable energy over the last year in Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, and Denmark.

Apple's latest investments in renewable energy including onsite solar project outside of Reno Nevada that is powering Apple's Nevada data centre, the wind farm outside of Chicago - a 112-megawatt virtual power purchase agreement with this wind farm in Illinois covers Apple's electricity use in the Chicago region, Solar project in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In addition, Apple has completed construction of two of the world's largest onshore wind turbines, a source of clean, renewable energy that is now operational. Located near the Danish town of Esbjerg, the power produced will support Apple's data centre in Viborg, with all surplus energy going into the Danish grid.

"Apple is dedicated to protecting the planet we all share with solutions that are supporting the communities where we work. We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to fight against the impacts of climate change, and our $4.7 billion investment of the proceeds from our Green Bond sales is an important driver in our efforts. Ultimately, clean power is good business," says Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives.

Since the historic climate change agreement at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, Apple has invested the proceeds from three issuances of Green Bonds to support global efforts in carbon emissions reductions. In February 2016, the company issued its first $1.5 billion Green Bond, following up with its second round of $1 billion in June 2017 after the former US Administration's announcement of its intention to withdraw from the agreement reached at COP21. In November 2019, Apple issued its third set of Green Bonds and its first in Europe, with two bonds each at 1 billion euros (totalling approximately $2.2 billion). Last July, Apple unveiled its plan to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030. Apple is already carbon neutral today for its global corporate operations, and this new commitment means that by 2030, every Apple device sold will have net zero climate impact.

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