Apple says the greenhouse gas emissions across its entire carbon footprint sat 60 percent below 2015 levels as of 2025, and that the figure held steady from 2024 even in what the company calls a year of significant business growth. That number anchors Apple’s newest environmental progress report, published April 16, 2026, and it sits against a target the company set six years earlier: carbon neutrality across that same footprint by the end of the decade.
Key facts
| Figure | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| Long-term target | Carbon neutral across Apple’s entire footprint by the end of 2030 |
| Reduction reached | 60% below 2015 levels, as of 2025 |
| Year-over-year change | Held constant from 2024 to 2025 despite business growth |
| Next stated step | Cut emissions a further 75% versus 2015, then balance the remainder |
| Report published | April 16, 2026 |
| Original commitment | July 2020, carbon neutral across supply chain and products by 2030 |
Where the 60 percent figure comes from
Apple states the 60 percent figure in an April 16, 2026 Newsroom release that also covers recycled materials and supplier energy programs, backed by a full environmental progress report and an environment hub with its own answers page. Apple attaches a specific qualifier to the number: it says the reduction held constant between the 2024 and 2025 reporting years, a detail the company chose to highlight rather than a plain year-over-year change on its own.
What “entire footprint” covers, and what it does not
Apple describes its target as covering its entire footprint, a phrase broader than any single device. It is not the same measurement as the carbon figure Apple prints for one product’s manufacturing, transport, use and disposal in that product’s own Product Environmental Report. iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Duo, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 each carry a separate report of that kind, published alongside their own announcements. Apple has not published, in the material reviewed for this piece, a line-by-line accounting of what “entire footprint” includes beyond that phrase, and it has not stated an absolute emissions total in metric tons for 2025, only the percentage change against the 2015 baseline.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
Two earlier reports mark the same climb
Apple’s own Newsroom archive shows the 60 percent figure did not appear all at once. An April 2024 release described emissions cut in half against the 2015 baseline. An April 2025 release described the reduction surpassing 60 percent, covering the prior fiscal year. The April 2026 report carries the same 60 percent figure forward and adds that it held flat rather than climbing further in the latest year.
| Date | What Apple reported |
|---|---|
| July 2020 | Original pledge: carbon neutral across supply chain and products by 2030 |
| April 2024 | Emissions cut in half against 2015 |
| April 2025 | Reduction surpasses 60 percent |
| April 2026 | Reduction still at 60 percent, held constant from the prior year |
| End of 2030 | Stated deadline for carbon neutrality across the entire footprint |
What happens between 60 percent and the deadline
Apple’s stated strategy for the years remaining is to reduce emissions a further 75 percent against the 2015 baseline, then balance whatever remains, in the company’s own words, “starting with nature-based solutions that adhere to rigorous international standards.” Apple has not defined which nature-based solutions it means, has not attached a date to the 75 percent step short of the 2030 endpoint, and has not said whether the pace of reduction is expected to quicken to close the gap between 60 and 75 percent.
What Apple has not said
Apple has not published an absolute emissions figure in tons for 2025 in any of the material reviewed here, only the percentage change against 2015. It has not detailed the entire-footprint boundary beyond that phrase, and it has not said how, or whether, the accounting behind individual products’ own reports feeds into the company-wide percentage. Apple’s environmental progress reports have arrived each April for several years running; as of September 12, 2026, the company has not announced a date for its next one.
