Apple’s Tim Cook tells major climate conference that world cannot just make ‘changes at the margins’

(AFP via Getty Images)

The world cannot just make “changes at the margins” and both companies and governments must address their “burden to act” on climate change, Apple’s Tim Cook will tell a major summit.

The chief executive is one of a small number of non-state leaders to address the UN’s Climate Action Summit, which aims to set out priorities and ambitions ahead of the COP 26 conference being held in the UK next year.

Not all countries were invited to address the summit, with Australia being left out seemingly in recognition of its failure to commit to ambitious enough environmental pledges.

Mr Cook will say that Apple did not “take our presence in this group lightly” and that it wears it “as a badge of duty”.

“At this moment of historic urgency, every leader — of nations, of companies and of communities — has a particular burden to act,” he will say in prepared remarks.

Mr Cook’s speech points to the work the company has already done to make its corporate operations entirely carbon neutral, and its commitment to make all of its products carbon neutral by 2030.

He will also make the new announcement that it is helping 95 of its suppliers transition to fully renewable energy, and that it is continuing to grow that number. It has already increased since September, when Apple said that it was working with 72 suppliers.

The company has noted that those suppliers are key to Apple fulfilling its pledge for all of its production to be 100 per cent renewable within ten years. In the speech, Mr Cook claims that plan is “unrivalled in its ambition”.

“The choice between the bottom line and the future of our planet is a false one, and each new green innovation offers the proof,” he will say in the remarks, which will be broadcast as a pre-recorded video.

"This is no time for changes at the margins. Together, we can transition to a carbon neutral economy and usher in a new era of inclusive opportunity.

"This is a moment for ambition, cooperation, and leadership.

“We at Apple are proud to be your partners, and we call on companies and governments around the world to do all we can to make 2021 the year we turn the corner for good.”