Why is Apple Dodging CSR Reporting?

Apple is an innovative brand with a cult following. It's edgy and sleek; it's got buzz all the time; it's expensive; it defines modern design; it has cool advertising. And yet, Apple is rotten when it comes to sustainability reporting. While Dell, IBM and HP have received high industry ratings for GHG emission reduction and transparency (from RiskMetrics , CERES and the Carbon Disclosure Project), Apple refuses to submit meaningful data for public evaluation. Is Apple afraid of what we'll see?

In an earlier post, I reported on data that indicated that Apple enjoys a consumer perception of its sustainability that is 30% higher than its actual sustainability. Perhaps Apple seeks to prevent the shattering of this perception by the reality of its reporting. But its choice not to participate in CSR reporting, or to participate in very limited ways, devalues its brand and will catch up to it- perhaps sooner than later.

Justmeans member As You Sow, an environmental activist group that works by through shareholder action (known as proxy resolutions) has been pressuring Apple on sustainability for years. In 2009, they offered shareholder proposals requesting that Apple make GHG reporting commitments and CSR disclosures. Apple responded by making some concessions and volunteering some data (though, the data Apple did release is in an unusual format making it impossible to compare to other companies). The proxy resolution received 8% of Apple's shareholders' votes. This number may sound diminutive but is significant; shareholder votes have a notoriously poor turnout due passive investors or investing through brokers.

As You Sow has already put forth two new shareholders resolutions in 2010, similar to the last ones: a) asking shareholders to force Apple into solid GHG targets and b) cradle-to-grave disclosure about the environmental impacts of its products. The response this time is interesting; Apple's board made an effort to shut down the proxy resolutions, which is fairly unsual. It also puts As You Sow in a prime position to flip the Board's decision into a shareholder lawsuit (and potential media circus).

Al Gore's role in all of this is disconcerting. He sits on Apple's board. While he could be voted down by a majority of the baord, someone should check the minutes to see if he's defending his climate change principles the way the author of An Inconvenient Truth should be. It would be just as interesting to discover whether he supports Apple's GHG obstructionism, which would be an inconvenient truth of its own.