Technology giant Apple Inc.AAPL 2.27%prefers to be known for not only its product and service offerings, but also for its commitment to the environment and society.
What Happened: Apple has allocated about $2.8 billion raised from its previous issuances of Green Bonds into projects addressing carbon emissions, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The investments have been in new projects supporting low carbon design and engineering, energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon mitigation and carbon sequestration.
Since the Paris climate change accord of 2015, the company has issued three Green Bonds, raising a cumulative $4.7 billion in proceeds.
In 2020 alone, the company funded 17 projects that will eliminate 921,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually and generate 1.2 gigawatts of renewable energy globally.
"Apple is dedicated to protecting the planet we all share with solutions that are supporting the communities where we work," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives.
Why It's Important: Corporate social responsibility, or in other words private businesses imposing self-regulation to contribute to societal goals, has assumed importance as a means of payback to society.
Apple is already carbon neutral for its corporate operations. In July 2020, the company announced plans to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain and product life cycle by 2030. It is expected that every Apple device sold will have a net-zero climate impact by 2030.