Apple may have to drop carbon neutral tag in Europe

Apple recently launched the Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2, and the company is advertising these two smartwatches to be carbon-neutral, which means that Apple is removing the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is being produced in the lifecycle of these wearables. However, the European Union says that Apple’s claim is “bogus” and accuses the company of ‘greenwashing’.

According to Apple, it managed to make the Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2 carbon neutral by “reducing greenhouse gas emissions from three biggest sources across the product life cycle: electricity, materials, and transportation,” and then applying “high-quality carbon credits from nature-based projects for emissions that cannot yet be avoided or reduced with existing solutions.”

For those of you who don’t know about carbon credits, these are credits that an organisation can purchase to offset the amount of carbon emitted by it. Carbon credits are generated from environmental projects that mitigate carbon. One carbon credit is equivalent to one ton of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) says that a brand cannot advertise a product to be carbon-neutral if the greenhouse gases emitted in the lifecycle of that product are balanced out by the company using carbon credits.

That means once the EU bans such claims, Apple will no longer be able to advertise the Watch Series 9, Watch Ultra 2, or any other products as carbon neutral by offsetting the emission of greenhouse gases generated in the lifecycle of those products using carbon credits. At least in Europe. If Apple has to go back on its word, it could be a huge dent in the brand’s image.