Apple CEO tells climate change sceptics to drop Apple shares

The chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook, has told climate change sceptic investors to ditch their stocks if they do not support his ambition of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and promoting renewable energy.

Cook, 53, who took over the company shortly after Steve Jobs died of cancer in October 2011, was speaking at the 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Friday in response to enquiries as to whether investing in renewable energy is profitable.

Apple has significantly ramped up its action on environmental issues since Cook took charge and he has pledged to source 100 per cent of the companies power from renewables.

At last weeks meeting, a resolution by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) - a recognised climate scpetic think tank -  was voted against by shreholders. The resolution would have forced Apple to disclose more detailed information about the costs of its investment in tackling climate change.

According to reports, Justin Danhof of the NCPPR asked Cook if Apple’s environmental investments increased or decreased the company’s bottom line and insisted that Apple should only invest in measures that were profitable.

According to reports, Cook categorically rejected the NCPPR’s climate scepticism and told shareholders that securing a return on investment was not the only reason for investing in environmental measures.

Cook explained to Danhof that: “If you want me to do things only for ROI (return on investment) reasons, you should get out of this stock,”.

Since becoming Apple's CEO, Cook has increased the use of solar, wind and geothermal resources used to power the company's offices to more than 75 per cent.