Apple, Amazon Oppose Stricter Global Emissions Reporting Rules

Apple and Amazon have joined a group of major companies pushing back against Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s proposed stricter emissions reporting rules, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the world’s leading authority on how companies measure and report their environmental impact, has proposed changes designed to tighten reporting requirements and eliminate “greenwashing,” the practice of making a brand appear more environmentally friendly than it actually is.

However, tech leaders argue that the new standards could become overly burdensome, potentially stifling innovation and creating a naming and shaming culture that discourages companies from setting ambitious climate goals.

At the heart of the disagreement is how companies account for Scope 3 emissions. While Scope 1 (direct emissions from owned sources) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased energy) are relatively straightforward to track, Scope 3 covers the entire value chain. For a company like Apple, this includes everything from the mining of raw materials for iPhones to the electricity customers use to charge their devices.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol wants more granular data and less reliance on market-based accounting, which allows companies to use carbon offsets or renewable energy certificates to lower their reported totals. Apple and Amazon have voiced concerns that the proposed methods are too rigid.

The climate body’s push for stricter rules follows a wave of litigation and public scrutiny. Earlier this year, Apple successfully defended itself in a U.S. greenwashing lawsuit involving its carbon neutral marketing for the Apple Watch. While the court ruled in Apple’s favour, the case highlighted how much the public relies on these standardized reporting metrics to judge corporate claims.

Regulators argue that without stricter rules, companies can easily manipulate their data to look better on paper while their actual carbon footprint remains unchanged.