Gases that are harmful to the climate are created in many industries: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others cause the earth’s atmosphere to warm more than it would without them. Apple is one of the companies that advertise that they want to produce CO₂-neutral products as quickly as possible. It may come as a surprise if the company opposes an initiative that provides for stricter regulation of greenhouse gas emissions: Apple is one of the signatories of a petition that wants to tighten the greenhouse gas offset from energy consumption (Scope 2) of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol on a voluntary basis instead of making it mandatory. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is an industry-wide standard that has been in effect since 2015. Participating companies commit to breaking down their consumption of global warming emissions. They are divided into three areas (scopes). “Scope 2” describes the proportion that arises from heat, steam, cooling and energy requirements. In order to be considered CO₂-neutral in this area, the annual balance sheet has so far been sufficient: companies have been able to take stock at the end of the year and offset their Scope 2 emissions through investments in sustainable energy or reforestation projects.
Up to the hour – like the market
However, the actual energy market has a much more dynamic timing: the price of a kilowatt hour is recalculated every hour. The change proposed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) takes this into account and stipulates that reporting on the production of CO₂ and equivalents should be done on an hourly basis. On top of that, companies should indicate where the greenhouse gases were created.
Late petition
The new regulation was published in October 2025 and the public had the opportunity to express criticism until mid-January 2026. Three months later, 66 companies have now come forward with a petition that wants to change a single word: “must” should be softened to “may”. In other words: the detailed breakdown will remain a voluntary service in the future. The companies include corporations such as Amazon, Akamai, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, but also companies that are perceived as environmentally conscious such as Patagonia, Oatly and Apple.
Four reasons
The petition sets out four fears, which it supports with 13 individual sources. Accordingly, the additional reporting requirements would
- show a limited advantage in terms of accuracy,
- promote inefficiencies in the private sector, which slows overall CO₂ reduction,
- Discourage companies from voluntarily purchasing climate-neutral forms of energy, as well
- lead to higher energy prices for individuals and companies.
Apple reiterates climate goals
After Apple’s support for the petition became public, the company told 9to5mac:
To make decisive progress on climate action, it is essential that we get this overhaul right. We urge the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to improve existing guidance but not to impede critical investments in the decarbonization of electricity generation by mandating a change that fundamentally jeopardizes participation in this voluntary market, which acts as the linchpin of decarbonization in almost all sectors of the economy. The revised guidelines must promote clean energy procurement and enable more effective action by companies, rather than inadvertently hindering it.
What is striking is how Apple emphasizes the voluntary nature of this. Whether a company follows the rules of the “Greenhouse Gas Protocol” remains entirely their own decision. Apple has been accused of greenwashing in the past and no longer advertises the Mac mini and Apple Watch as climate-neutral in Germany.
GHG Protocol: Industry initiative
Incidentally, the proposed tightening does not come from environmental associations or government regulatory authorities: the leading WRI is mainly financed by major donors from the US economy. The NGO also involved in its creation, called WBCSD, is mainly made up of global companies such as Nestlé, Microsoft, Shell, Unilever, IKEA and Volkswagen.
