Apple Seeds Clean Energy Fund for China

Apple will launch a new first-of-its-kind investment fund in China to connect suppliers with renewable energy sources. As part of the company’s commitment to increase the use of renewable energy within its supply chain, 10 initial suppliers and Apple will jointly invest nearly $300 million over the next four years into the China Clean Energy Fund. The fund will invest in and develop clean energy projects totaling more than 1 gigawatt of renewable energy in China, the equivalent of powering nearly 1 million homes.

Transitioning to clean energy can be complex, especially for small companies without access to viable clean energy sources. The size and scale of the China Clean Energy Fund will give participants the advantage of greater purchasing power and the ability to attain more attractive and diverse clean energy solutions. DWS Group, which specializes in sustainable investments, will manage the fund.

Earlier in 2018, Apple announced that its global facilities are powered by 100-percent clean energy. And, since it launched its Supplier Clean Energy Program in 2015, 23 manufacturing partners, operating in more than 10 countries, have committed to powering all of their Apple production with 100 percent clean energy. Apple and its suppliers will generate more than 4 gigawatts of new clean energy worldwide by 2020—representing one-third of Apple’s current manufacturing electricity footprint.

Apple is also working with suppliers to find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company recently reached a breakthrough with aluminum suppliers Alcoa Corporation and Rio Tinto Aluminum on a new technology that eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process, a key step in aluminum production.