Apple Refuses to Publish Sustainability Report
We recently applauded Apple for its new energy efficient 17″ MacBook, but news that the company wants to stifle shareholder requests to publish a Corporate Sustainability Report has overshadowed our praise.
The shareholder resolution was proposed by an environmental group called As You Sow, and asks for detailed information about toxins, recycling, greenhouse gases, and more. This past Wednesday, Apple’s board of directors asked shareholders to vote against the resolution.
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The most disturbing part? Al Gore is on the board. The company claims, however, that “an additional report would produce little added value while requiring unnecessary time and expense”. While that may be true, CSR reports are produced by over 2,700 companies, including Apple competitors Dell, IBM, and HP. And if the company really has nothing to hide, producing such a report shouldn’t be an issue.
This isn’t the first time Apple has come under fire for its environmental practices—the company has previously been criticized by Greenpeace for withholding information about green policies.
Photo Credit: CC licensed by Flickr user kevinthoule
My 2 shares and I voted against the board on this issue. I want them to issue a sustainability report as I feel every large company should. I also voted to unseat Al Gore from the board of directors.
This seems like a bit of a non issue to me. They may be full of BS as to their reasons for not doing one, or it may be a true statement, making a decision based on the needs of the overall company in a turbulent economy, and not the needs of a minority not representing the issues of the majority. How many people actually read such reports, beyond the deep greens?