Apple Launches $200M Fund To Counter Climate Change

The Cupertino Giant Will Invest In Forestry Projects To Help Remove Carbon From The Atmosphere While Generating Financial Returns.

Apple Inc. AAPL announced the creation of a $200 million investment fund to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and support sustainable forestry. This new solution – called the Restore Fund – will be co-managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS and the non-profit organization Conservation International, thus ensuring that funding projects meet rigorous environmental and social standards. The goal is to remove at least one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually from the atmosphere, equivalent to the amount of fuel used by over 200,000 passenger vehicles.

The Silviculture Project: More specifically, the Restore Fund will invest in the development and conservation of forests that will remove carbon from the atmosphere while growing, and produce trees to be used as timber. As a matter of fact, Apple has been employing virgin wood fiber packaging from sustainable forest management since 2017 – that is the target activity of the fund.

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The Importance Of Generating A Financial Return: Apple is certainly not the first company to understand the importance of sustainable investments. With the Restore Fund, however, the Cupertino giant wants to demonstrate how such investments are also capable of generating a financial return. "The idea of having a return is important for the planet," said Apple's vice president for Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson in an interview with CNN. "Because if you really want businesses to engage, if you want the business to really turn around and do this at scale... it has to be because there's a return on that investment. Otherwise, it's just philanthropy.”

Apple's Commitment: In the framework for a more sustainable manufacturing, the company is also changing the materials with which it builds products to more environmentally friendly options. And by 2030, Apple says it will make its global corporate footprint entirely carbon neutral. "All of those things were done with an eye toward return," underlines Jackson. "The truth of the matter is that clean energy is cheaper, and cleaner. And so, if we can show companies that this is good for business, then you're not having to choose between your bottom line and doing well by the planet.”

This article originally appeared on Financialounge.com and was translated from Italian to English. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited. For news coverage in Italian or Spanish, check out Benzinga Italia and Benzinga España.