The carbon emissions produced by the use of Apple’s products is about 19 per cent of the company’s carbon footprint, compared with the 71 per cent created by the manufacturing of its devices. In 2021, about 20 per cent of material used in Apple products was recycled.

“As the recycled percentage goes up, the carbon footprint of each individual product comes down,” said Jackson. “That combined with a really long [product] life means you’re getting less and less material out of the earth. That’s all part of the opportunity for innovation in an aggressive climate program.”

Jackson ran the Environmental Protection Agency under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. Under her tenure, the EPA first declared carbon dioxide was harmful to human health and as a result tightened regulations for power plants and vehicles. At Apple, she’s overseen another milestone.

“In the past year at Apple, revenue went up and our carbon emissions stayed the same. And that’s a really important moment in a company’s trajectory, because you finally start to prove out that you can do this in a way that still allows for economic growth and development.”

Jackson said she still believed “the leadership has to come from government” in terms of climate action but “business has an incredibly important role to play”.

Loading

“We can show people that this kind of innovation can be as transformative as the iPhone was, as the iPod was the first time you saw it.”

As part of a suite of announcements marking 40 years of operation in Australia, Apple has also expanded its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) to Australia, backing five Indigenous-led organisations and programs including criminal justice reform group Deadly Connections and Aboriginal business support group First Australians Capital.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.