 "Apple partners with NGO to promote clean energy innovation in India")
Apple will work with Acumen, a global non-profit organisation (NGO), to support Indian enterprises driving clean energy innovation, said the iPhone maker on Thursday.
Apple said Acumen experts, through the Energy for Livelihoods Accelerator, will lead a 12-week programme to help entrepreneurs scale up their businesses and transform the lives of the poor, while also protecting the environment.
Applications for the programme are open and enterprises working for environmental and social causes can apply till July 24. The programme will begin in September this year.
“Apple is committed to helping ensure everyone can share in the benefits of a greener economy,” said Sarah Chandler, Apple’s vice president of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation. “We’re demonstrating the transformative potential of clean energy in everything we do, and excited to support social innovators who share that goal.”
The technology giant said that the programme participants will gain access to a support network of peers, facilitators, and mentors. They will later become a part of Acumen Academy’s global community, The Foundry, where they will be eligible for technical assistance and early-stage investment from Acumen’s Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative (PEII+).
“For over 20 years, Acumen has invested in early-stage social enterprises addressing problems of poverty in India, and some of our most innovative recent investments have been at the intersection of energy access and livelihoods,” said Mahesh Yagnaraman, Acumen’s director of India. “We are excited to partner with Apple to continue building an ecosystem of scalable social businesses in India committed to improving livelihoods using sustainable energy.”
This comes at a time when Apple crossed the Rs 20,000-crore mark in iPhone exports from India during the first quarter of FY24, a 400 per cent growth compared to the same quarter last financial year. Furthermore, this figure accounts for half of what the company achieved in the full financial year of FY23.
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The company aims to be carbon neutral for each of its products by 2030. In line with this, over 250 global manufacturing partners—including 12 operating in India—have already committed to 100 percent renewable energy for all Apple production by 2030. Additionally, all final assembly sites in India have achieved zero waste.
In India, in addition to working with Acumen, Apple has partnered with environmental NGO Frank Water to expand access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene; and with the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) to preserve mangroves along India’s west coast.