Apple’s brand image opens its climate claims to extra scrutiny

livemint.com:

renewable energy for some watch making, along with corporate offices, data centres and retail stores; a vow to cut carbon emissions by 75% from 2015 levels by 2030; a promise to use only “high quality" carbon credits to make up for whatever emissions Apple can’t eliminate; and a new tool called Grid Forecast that alerts users when green power is available. Apple deserves kudos for making so much noise about its social values. In this, the company is on the right side of history, setting a good example for its peers.

Apple also knows its target audience; its user base leans young, female and fairly well-to-do. But if capitalism has any hope of helping resolve the climate crisis it created, then this is how it should work: The invisible hand of the market guiding companies and customers towards sustainable behaviour. Some of Apple’s moves will also do good.

Renewable energy and aggressive targets for emission reduction are important. Grid Forecast could nudge electricity use in a positive direction. And the sheer volume of recycled materials in Apple’s iPhones and other products is genuinely impressive.

After that, the promises get murkier. For example, it isn’t entirely clear paper packaging is superior to plastic. Though most fibres in Apple’s “fiber-based" packaging are recycled, the rest come from precious carbon-storing trees.

Ocean shipping does emit far less carbon than air transport, but it also spews pollution directly into oceans. Also, Apple’s emission goals depend on carbon offsets, which are credits companies and people get for investing in projects to reduce carbon—say, planting trees. Carbon offsets have been under intense scrutiny for promising more than they can deliver.