Apple endorses California bill to oblige companies to report carbon footprint

Apple Hospitality REIT

08/09/2023 18:06

By Isla Binnie
       NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Apple  AAPL.O  has endorsed
a California Senate bill that would require large companies to
report the levels of greenhouse gases they emit every year, the
senator proposing the measure said, making it the latest major
company to do so.
    "Throughout our environmental journey, we've emphasized the
importance of measurement and reporting to help us understand
our impact," said the letter, signed by Apple's director for
state and local government affairs D. Michael Foulkes, a copy of
which Senator Scott Wiener posted on Thursday  to X, formerly
known as Twitter.
    Wiener's bill would require public and private companies
with annual revenue in excess of $1 billion who do business in
traditionally climate-conscious California to disclose
independently verified data on their planet-warming emissions.
    "Thank you, Apple, for making clear that this is doable
(and) a critically important piece of climate action," Wiener
wrote. 
    Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
    The top U.S. securities regulator is yet to publish a
long-awaited rule of its own on climate-related disclosures, and
California senators are going ahead at the state level.
    A separate bill under discussion would require companies
operating in California, with $500 million in revenue, to report
on climate-related financial risks such as whether they have
budgeted for increased compliance and insurance costs. 
    Together, the bills could affect thousands of companies.
    Groups including Adobe  ADBE.O , Ikea and Microsoft stated
their support for Wiener's bill in a letter addressed to
California officials in August, according to a copy posted
online by activist group Ceres.
    In its letter to Wiener, Apple commends his bill's attempt
to require companies to measure and report indirect emissions
linked to their supply chains and end-users, known as Scope 3.
    Noting that the legislation currently leaves open the date
by which Scope 1 and Scope 2 disclosures - which relate to
emissions from operations and those associated with a
corporation's energy use - Apple suggests "leaving sufficient
time for data collection, quality control, and third-party
review".    

 (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
 ((isla.binnie@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
isla.binnie.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))