Apple's Lisa Jackson joins Time 2030: 'Equity should be the bedrock of environmental progress'

Apple's Lisa Jackson has joined the Time 2030 Committee, penning a brief article stressing the need to tackle climate change by working with the communities most impacted by it.

Jackson's article, published Thursday, states, "If we want to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, we'll do it by bringing the communities most affected to the table and working together. Equity should be the bedrock of environmental progress."

The Time 2030 project launched in February. The magazine describes the effort as "a guide to the post-COVID world, an ongoing exploration of potential solutions and the leaders and innovators driving them."

Time says the committee of leaders from business, health, and philanthropy will "guide and advise" the magazine's editorial staff.

Jackson is Apple's VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. She joined the company in 2013 after finishing her term as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator under President Obama.

In the article, Jackson begins with an anecdote about a childhood letter:

When I was eight years old, I wrote a letter asking President Nixon to do what he could to protect our planet. I didn't know I'd one day go on to lead the agency he founded, the Environmental Protection Agency, or build on that work at Apple. But I saw the impact pollution was having on my community, contaminating our air and water. I knew then, as I know now, that when people's health is at risk, we should do something about it.

Jackson then connects the dots between climate change and the people it affects the most:

At the heart of our concern for the planet should be a concern for people. If we want to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, we'll do it by bringing the communities most affected to the table and working together. Equity should be the bedrock of environmental progress.

Under Jackson's leadership, Apple has become carbon neutral for its direct emissions. The iPhone maker has also committed to making its entire carbon footprint -- including from suppliers -- net-zero by 2030.

In March, Apple announced that more than 110 of its global supply-chain partners will switch to clean energy for their Apple manufacturing.

Jackson joins 11 other Time 2030 Committee members, including Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, Physician & Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, and actor Angelina Jolie.

"Climate change and global inequity are far bigger problems than any one company can solve," says Jackson. "But I'm inspired by how many are seeing that a healthy planet demands an equitable future. It's the future I wanted as an 8-year-old writing to the President. It's a future we can build together."