Apple has announced a significant expansion of its Restore Fund, which will double its financial commitment to advancing high-quality, nature-based carbon removal projects. The Restore Fund was initially launched in 2021, with an initial commitment of up to $200 million from Apple, Conservation International, and Goldman Sachs.
It was designed to encourage global investment in natural carbon removal solutions to protect and restore critical ecosystems and address residual emissions businesses cannot avoid or reduce with existing technology.
As part of this expansion, Apple will invest up to an additional $200 million in the new fund, which Climate Asset Management, a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, will manage. The new portfolio aims to remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year at its peak while generating a financial return for investors. In addition, apple suppliers that become partners in the fund will also have the opportunity to incorporate high-impact carbon removal projects as they work to decarbonize.
The Restore Fund will invest in nature-forward agricultural projects that generate income from sustainably managed farming practices and projects that conserve and restore critical ecosystems that remove and store carbon from the atmosphere.
This unique blended fund structure aims to achieve financial and climate benefits for investors while advancing a new model for carbon removal that more fully addresses the global potential for nature-based solutions.
To ensure the effectiveness of Restore Fund projects, Apple is deploying innovative remote sensing technologies to monitor and measure their impact, including Space Intelligence’s Carbon and Habitat Mapper, Upstream Tech’s Lens platform, and high-resolution satellite imagery from Maxar. These detailed maps will help ensure that projects meet Apple’s high standards before investment and will quantify and verify the projects’ carbon removal impact over time.
The expansion of the Restore Fund is part of Apple’s comprehensive roadmap to becoming carbon neutral for its entire supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030. Apple plans to reduce 75 per cent of all emissions by 2030 and balance the remaining emissions with high-quality carbon removal.