Apple has come out against a new proposal that would impact how companies report emissions and clean energy use. The guidance could have the opposite of the intended effect.
Just over a week after releasing its 2025 environmental report, Apple has signed a joint statement criticizing a proposed change to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP). The GHGP, established in 1998, is effectively the global standard for managing, recording, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
Apple, along with its supply chain partners Luxshare, BYD, and BOE, as well as companies the likes of General Motors, eBay, and others, opposes revisions to the GHGP's Scope 2 guidance.
The planned updates would force companies to match their hourly consumption of electricity with clean energy from deliverable grid regions.
As noted by 9to5mac, the proposed revisions are meant to improve the accuracy of emissions reporting. The Scope 2 updates would ensure that "emissions from both purchased and consumed electricity are not systematically over- or understated, and that uncertainties are reduced as far as practicable."
"Hourly matching creates incentives for novel technologies that will be needed at scale for fully decarbonized grids, ensuring that early action by ambitious corporations can accelerate this transition." In short, the proposal is presented as a solution that would speed up the move to decarbonized electrical grids.
Apple, and dozens of other companies, however, disagree, saying that making the new reporting system mandatory would have the opposite effect. According to the group, forcing the proposed Scope 2 changes would discourage and undermine participation in voluntary clean energy programs.
While they are in favor of GHGP updates, the companies want to make sure that they do not "stymie critical electricity decarbonization investments by mandating a change that fundamentally threatens participation in this voluntary market, which acts as the linchpin in decarbonization across nearly all sectors of the economy."
They also claim the proposed GHGP Scope 2 revisions would "increase electricity prices for individuals and companies," adding that the move would "drive inefficiencies in private-sector action, slowing system-wide decarbonization."
Ultimately, the companies' joint statement argues for a more flexible approach, saying that the stricter emissions reporting rules should be optional rather than mandatory.
Apple's environmental efforts
Apple has always been big on renewable energy. The company regularly highlights the recycled content in its products, its environmentally friendly product packaging, and more.
As such, Apple's opposition to the suggested Scope 2 changes is somewhat unusual. Either the company thinks it can do better with its own environmental approach, or there's an underlying reason for this opposition.
It's possible that the cost-to-benefit ratio of the GHGP updates isn't good enough for Apple, meaning the changes would cost more to implement than they would help the environment — or Apple's environment-focused PR efforts.
