ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

Apple Inc is facing a class action lawsuit by seven customers in connection with its carbon neutral and environmentally friendly claims with regards to its Series 9 Apple Watch.

The plaintiffs state they would not have brought the watches, or would have paid less, had they known that the carbon offsetting projects on which Apple relied did not provide “genuine” carbon reductions. The plaintiffs allege Apple failed to independently verify that the forest projects it uses in Kenya and China reduce carbon emissions. The claim, which was filed in February 2025, seeks unspecified damages and an injunction prohibiting Apple from marketing the watches as carbon neutral.

Apple has robustly defended its environmental record, confirming it has invested significantly in nature based projects and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.  

In a show of support for Apple, in May 2025, the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), a United States nonprofit environmental advocacy group, filed a third party document in the lawsuit which describes Apple’s practices as ‘eminently reasonable and consistent with industry practice’.  Further, the EDF consider Apple to be ‘an undeniable climate leader’ and have said in their filing that independent verification for every carbon offset project would disincentivise companies from investing in emission-reduction projects.

Apple has applied to dismiss the lawsuit, and a hearing is scheduled for 27 August 2025.