Apple today announced a "first-of-its-kind carbon removal initiative" called the Restore Fund that will make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors.
Launched with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, Apple says the $200 million fund aims to remove at least one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually from the atmosphere, equivalent to the amount of fuel used by over 200,000 passenger vehicles, with a viable financial model aimed at increasing investment in forest restoration.
Apple says this effort is part of the company's goal to become carbon neutral across its entire "value chain" by 2030. Apple plans to directly eliminate 75 percent of emissions for its supply chain and products by 2030, while the fund will help address the remaining 25 percent of Apple's emissions by removing carbon from the atmosphere.
Apple's environmental chief Lisa Jackson:
Nature provides some of the best tools to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Forests, wetlands, and grasslands draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it away permanently in their soils, roots, and branches. Through creating a fund that generates both a financial return as well as real, and measurable carbon impacts, we aim to drive broader change in the future — encouraging investment in carbon removal around the globe. Our hope is that others share our goals and contribute their resources to support and protect critical ecosystems.
As part of this initiative, Apple and Conservation International have partnered with local conservation organizations in Kenya to restore degraded savannas in the Chyulu Hills region. If similar efforts are scaled up across Africa, Apple says savannah restoration could remove hundreds of millions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.
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