Apple’s Jackson: Little Progress Reducing Suppliers’ Carbon Footprint

Apple’s environmental chief and former EPA head Lisa Jackson spoke at The Wall Street Journal’s Eco:nomics conference last week and said the company has had a tough road trying to reduce the 70 percent of its carbon footprint outside its direct control, such as manufacturers and suppliers in countries including China, Japan and Indonesia.

Jackson told Jeffrey Ball, contributing editor at The Wall Street Journal, that about 70 percent of the company’s carbon footprint can be attributed to “facilities that don’t have the Apple logo outside.”

Ball asked Jackson: “To what extent have you reduced that 70 percent portion of your carbon footprint over the last 10 years?”

Jackson responded: “It’s a good question and the answer is little so far. But you have to start at home. You start with the things you control and in your own backyard. So getting Apple to 100 percent renewable was really important to show it can be done and to give people ideas on how they might be able to follow.”

As the tech giant works to shrink its entire carbon footprint, Apple suspended production at 15 facilities that violated its environmental rules in 2014, according to the company’s Supplier Responsibility 2015 Progress Report. Last year Apple conducted compliance audits at 633 facilities — a 40 percent increase from 2013.