Apple

Apple earns first-mover advantage honors on the corporate environmental front as it is the first major US company to support greater emissions disclosure requirements, a move backed by new Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler.

During his March 2 confirmation hearing, Gensler said he supports climate risk exposure and pledged that the SEC would do an economic analysis and seek public feedback on the issue.

Apple didn’t skip a beat. Former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, who is an Apple VP, posted an April 13 statement by Arvin Ganesan, global energy & environmental policy head, on Twitter to sum up Apple’s thinking.

“Climate change is real and its threat is existential. At Apple, we’re determined to do our part, demonstrating that bold action is possible, committing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and aiming to be a ripple in the pond that helps create a much larger change.”

Ganesan noted that disclosure is an important tool in the fight against climate change because it helps companies to understand their footprint, develop strategies to reduce emissions and ultimately achieve decarbonization.

“Apple, therefore, believes that the SEC should issue rules to require that companies disclose third-party-audited emissions information to the public, covering all scopes of emissions, direct and indirect, and the value chain.”

The company looks forward to working with the SEC “so that any rules it may advance can build upon our learnings, and to create a system that provides appropriate information to help us collectively combat climate change.”

Former VP and climate change warrior Al Gore sits on Apple’s board. Kudos to Apple.

Almost nine-in-ten (89 percent) employees expect to work at home at least part of the time following the end of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a survey by Boston Consulting Group and The Network.

The survey of 209K people in 190 countries found that a quarter of them would vote for a complete remote work model, though that figure rises to 35 percent in the US.

The survey found that ten percent of marketing and communications people worked remotely all the time prior to COVID-19 and another 31 percent some of the time.

Those numbers shot up to 32 percent and 40 percent, respectively, during the outbreak.

The study found that workers also want flexibility on time worked. Less than four-in-ten (36 percent) prefer a 9-to-5 job, while 44 percent want a mixed and flexible time. One-in-five want complete timing flexibility with no fixed hours at all.

BCG calls remote work “among the set of workplace attributes, along with friendly colleagues, ethnic and racial diversity and a commitment to environmentally sound practices that employees will be seeking in the post-pandemic future.”

That time can’t come soon enough.