Apple has written a letter to California lawmakers expressing its support for strict corporate climate emission disclosures. As reported by CNBC, the letter has been written by Mike Foulkes, Apple’s director of state and local government affairs and it is addressed to Scott Weiner, a California state senator who introduced the Senate Bill 253.
Before we delve into the contents of the letter, it is important to know the details of Senate Bill 253, or Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act which must be implemented before January 1, 2025.
Senate Bill 253 Details
According to the bill, companies that generate more than $1 billion of revenue annually must disclose the details of greenhouse emissions that are generated during their operations. There are three grades of emissions that must be disclosed.
Scope 1 emissions are regarded as those emissions that are generated by the sources directly owned by an organization. It could include the emissions emitted from furnaces, boilers, or other sources where fuel is burned.
Scope 2 emissions refer to indirect greenhouse gas emissions that are incurred from activities like purchasing electricity, heating or cooling infrastructure, and more.
Scope 3 is the most important emission grade and it is categorized as the emission which is generated from a company’s supply chain, or value chain. While amounting to the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a company, it is quite difficult to quantify and track.
Senate Bill 253 focuses on Scope 3 emissions and introducing norms for strict reporting of these emissions. The bill requires companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in 2026 and start including Scope 3 data in 2027.
Apple’s letter supports disclosing Scope 3 emissions
Here’s what Apple writes in the letter to express support for the California Climate Bill:
“To ensure accuracy and transparency, we strongly believe that companies’ carbon emissions disclosures should include their scope 3 emissions. While these emissions can be challenging to measure, they are essential to understanding the full range of a company’s climate impacts.
We acknowledge that there is inherent uncertainty in modeling carbon emissions, primarily due to data limitations. Scope 3 emissions, in particular, involve making educated assumptions and complex modeling. We believe, however, that our reports attest to the feasibility of reasonably modeling, measuring, and reporting on all three scopes of emissions, including scope 3 emissions, which represent the overwhelming majority of most companies’ carbon footprint and are therefore critical to include.”
Posting the complete letter on X (formerly Twitter), Senator Scott Weiner thanked Apple for its endorsement of the bill.
Huge new endorsement — @Apple — of our groundbreaking climate bill to require large corporations to disclose their carbon footprint (SB 253).
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) September 7, 2023
Thank you, Apple, for making clear that this is doable & a critically important piece of climate action. pic.twitter.com/mntbWzXFDV
Apple also mentioned in the letter that similar climate disclosures should also be made mandatory by other regulatory agencies on national and international levels.
“Given the likely proliferation of mandatory disclosures at the international, national, and sub-national level, we would appreciate the provisions for the state board to minimize the need for reporting entities to prepare duplicative reports or engage multiple assurance providers,” Foulkes wrote. “We would welcome further efforts to promote convergence at a national and international level.”