Apple takes another bite out of climate change with second billion-dollar green bond

Technology giant Apple has served up the perfect riposte to U.S. President Donald Trump’s disavowal of the Paris Agreement by issuing $1 billion of green bonds with the explicit instruction that proceeds raised be steered towards clean energy and eco-friendly projects.

The iPhone maker has long been a supportive advocate of solar power, and last year issued the biggest ever green bond sold by a U.S. company when it sold $1.5 billion worth of green bonds.

This second foray follows Apple’s signing of an open letter in which the company, and others, pledged to continue supporting efforts to meet the Paris Agreement. Having seen his efforts to dissuade Trump from withdrawing from the agreement fall on deaf ears, Apple CEO Tim Cook has, with this green bond issuance, taken tangible steps towards meeting the firm’s environmental and social initiatives.

“Leadership from the business community is essential to address the threat of climate change,” said Apple’s VP of environment, policy and social initiatives Lisa Jackson in a statement. Following this latest green bond, Apple is now the largest issuer of dollar-denominated green bonds.

The purpose of this second green bond sale is to make it easier for investors to identify projects that are eco-friendly. Proceeds from projects funded under the green bond sale are dictated by a set of guidelines called the Green Bond Principles. By raising debt in this manner, the company does not have to dip into its cash reserves to fund clean energy projects.

Apple has also specified that projects pursued under the bond offering will follow the firm’s closed-loop supply chain principle, where Apple only makes products using recycled or renewable materials.

Apple already sources an impressive 96% of its energy from renewable sources, and in August last year was authorized to sell its renewable power on the U.S. wholesale market, becoming an independent power producer in its own right.

Other PV strings to the Apple bow include large-scale solar deals and projects in the U.S., while its new HQ, Apple Park, boasts one of the largest on-site solar arrays in the world.