Philip Houska It's no secret that Apple, as one of the most influential technology companies today, places great emphasis on the environment around the world. Nature conservation is undoubtedly an important part of the social responsibility of this Silicon Valley giant, and current information regarding clean energy financing confirms this.
According to the agency Reuters Apple has issued bonds worth one and a half billion dollars to finance clean energy - that is, that which does not pollute the environment when used - for its global operations. Green bonds at this value are the highest ever issued by any US company.
Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson, who is in charge of managing the environment, politics and social initiatives, said that the proceeds from these bonds will be primarily intended to finance not only renewable sources and accumulated energy, but also energy-friendly projects, green buildings and last but not least protection of natural resources.
Although green bonds are only a small part of the overall bond market, they are expected to grow significantly after investors understand the value of the low-carbon economy and start investing in it. The entire expected growth is also hinted at by the rating agency's announcement Moody's.
Its investor services department recently came out with information that this year the issuance of green bonds should reach the fifty billion dollar mark, which would be about seven billion lower than the record set in 2015, when the issuance was around 42,4 billion. The stated scenario was built mainly on the basis of the agreement of the International Climate Conference, which took place in December of last year in Paris.
"These bonds will allow investors to put money where their concerns persist," Jackson said Reuters and she added that the contract signed on the occasion of the 21st Climate Summit in France encouraged the Cupertino giant to issue these types of securities, as hundreds of companies promised to invest in these undervalued bonds.
It is this "underappreciation" that can be caused by a certain misunderstanding of the overall meaning. This is caused by the fact that some investors have no idea what the established standards are for describing this security and the transparency of how the proceeds are used. There are also situations where organizations use different guidelines for investing.
Apple decided to use the Green Bond Principles (loosely translated as "green bond principles"), which were established by financial institutions BlackRock and JPMorgan. After the consulting firm Sustainlytics has checked whether the bond structure meets the agreed standards based on the aforementioned directive, Apple will face annual audits by Ernst & Young's accounting department to observe how the proceeds from the issued bonds are handled at all.
The iPhone maker expects that the vast majority of the proceeds will be further spent over the next two years, especially in terms of global carbon footprint reduction. Apple also has pressure on its suppliers (including China's Foxconn) to switch to renewable energy sources. Already in October of last year, the company took fundamental steps to improve the environment when operating in China provided over 200 megawatts of renewable energy.
