Apple doubles investment in its carbon-removal Restore Fund

Apple is to invest up to $200 million in expanding its Restore Fund, the project that between Apple and partners including Conservation International, aims to fund "nature-based carbon removal projects."

The Restore Fund was announced in 2021, as a joint initiative to invest in forestry projects. Launched with both Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, it was part of Apple's plans to go carbon neutral across its entire business — including suppliers — by 2030.

"The Restore Fund is an innovative investment approach that generates real, measurable benefits for the planet, while aiming to generate a financial return," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives in a statement. "The path to a carbon neutral economy requires deep decarbonization paired with responsible carbon removal, and innovation like this can help accelerate the pace of progress."

Climate Asset Management — a joint venture between Pollination and HSBC Asset Management — will over see the new investment portfolio for Apple. The aim is to remove one million metric tons of carbon dioxide "per year at its peak while generating a financial return for investors."

Apple and Climate Asset Management are aiming to achieve that financial return by investing in "nature-forward agricultural projects that generate income from sustainably managed farming practices." They are also investing in "projects that conserve and restore critical ecosystems that remove and store carbon from the atmosphere."

To measure and monitor the impact of the projects the Restore Fund backs, Apple says it is "deploying innovative remote sensing technologies... to construct habitat and forest carbon maps of the project areas."

Apple's own corporate operations are already carbon-free, but Tim Cook has regularly pressed its supply chain to commit to achieving the same "immense" challenge.