Apple Shatters Carbon Offset Record

Apple has retired a record-breaking 737,100 tonnes of CO₂e in 2024—its largest volume of carbon credit use to date—as part of its efforts to address a rising emissions footprint. According to its 2025 Environmental Progress Report, the company’s ‘corporate carbon emissions’ jumped 41% year-over-year, reaching 666,800 tCO₂e.

Kenya’s Chyulu Hills with Maasai people walking along a path, with elephants roaming in the background. AI generated picture.

The move marks Apple’s most aggressive carbon offsetting initiative since 2021 and underscores a steady commitment to the voluntary carbon market, even as U.S. climate policies have become more turbulent under the Trump administration.

Apple’s offset portfolio spans several continents, reflecting a wide-ranging approach to environmental investments. Among its largest contributions:

• 385,000 credits from Kenya’s Chyulu Hills REDD+ project
• 100,500 credits from China’s Guinan Afforestation Project
• 100,000 credits from Guyana’s forest protection programme under the ART registry
• 78,507 credits from Paraguay’s Arbaro Forestal San Pedro project
• 73,093 credits from the AF Forestal Apepu Expansion project, also in Paraguay

All projects are certified by Verra or ART and represent established nature-based solutions to reduce and store atmospheric carbon.

Apple uses carbon credits primarily to address its corporate-level emissions, including direct operations (Scope 1), electricity usage (Scope 2), and selected supply chain activities like employee commuting and business travel (Scope 3). However, offsetting still plays only a limited role in mitigating emissions from the company’s product lifecycle. In 2024, Apple retired just 70,300 tCO₂e worth of credits against the 14.5 million tonnes generated from product use, manufacturing, and end-of-life disposal.

Despite this gap, Apple’s overall gross emissions declined to 15.3 million tCO₂e in 2024—down from 16.16 million in 2022 and dramatically lower than the 38.4 million reported in 2015.

‘Apple's carbon footprint boundary is aligned with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol framework and includes emissions that are material and relevant to Apple, where data is available,’ the company said.

Apple’s expanding use of offsets reinforces its leadership position in the voluntary carbon space, as it continues to blend accountability with ambitious environmental goals in a shifting policy landscape.