Apple has earned itself a lot of praise from Greenpeace for its efforts to make its operations in Europe and the United States more environmentally friendly, but now the country is turning to China, which has become one of Apple’s most important markets and is easily its biggest source of pollution. The company recently unveiled some programs for the country that it claims will help avoid 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution over the next five years. 

Just a few days after CEO Tim Cook joined the Council for Sustainable Urbanization to fight climate change in China, Apple this evening has revealed a handful of new programs in China that promote the use of clean energy. Apple says that the programs will help avoid 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution in China between now and 2020, which is the equivalent of removing 4 million vehicles from the road for one year. Apple also says that its construction of 40 megawatts of solar projects in the Sichuan Province is complete. Thanks to this, Apple’s offices and retail stores in China are all now carbon neutral. Tim Cook noted of this, saying that the transition to a green economy is a challenging, but necessary, task: “Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”