To mark COP23, Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, is reinforcing its aim to become carbon neutral by 2030.
At COP21 in Paris in 2015, Schneider Electric announced 10 Commitments for Sustainability. The
commitments were aligned with the Planet & Society Barometer, its sustainability scorecard, and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These commitments supported the company’s objectives to make its plants and sites carbon neutral by 2030, and to build a coherent industry ecosystem encompassing both suppliers and clients.
Schneider Electric, which has been at the forefront of sustainability efforts for more than a decade, has made significant progress on these commitments since 2015. Schneider Electric uses 16 indicators from the 2015- 2017 Planet & Society barometer to measure its commitment to sustainable development. In October 2017, Schneider Electric announced that it exceeded its barometer target for 2017; a quarter ahead of schedule.
Gilles Vermot Desroches, Senior Vice President Sustainability at Schneider Electric said: “COP23 gives us the opportunity to take an active part in mobilising society – creating awareness about climate change; align with global discussions; and demonstrate that there are current technologies that can have a real impact on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.”
Schneider Electric’s sustainability efforts are closely aligned with the ambitions of COP23, including climate justice, transition to a new economy, a strong focus on adaptation, and gender and climate change. Specifically, Schneider Electric’s aims to address the following issues when it comes to climate change:
What is good for the climate is good for the economy: the global demand for infrastructure investments in transport, energy, water, and urban development is estimated at around 6,000 billion US dollars per year over the next 15 years, while 270 billion US dollars per year would be sufficient to develop low carbon infrastructures. Schneider Electric has introduced Science-Based Targets (SBTs) to help companies, as well as its own business, capitalise on the new energy landscape opportunities;
Access to energy as a fundamental human right: the fight against climate change will not be effective without taking into account the needs of 2.3 billion people who have poor access to energy. Schneider Electric actively promotes access to energy. Energy Access Ventures – a fund backed by Schneider Electric that invests in growing, entrepreneurial businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa
addressing the lack of electrification in the region with new technology and innovative business models
– has secured commitments of 54.4 million Euros to provide electricity to 1 million people by 2020;
Providing new solutions for more efficient, more liveable and more sustainable cities: for Schneider Electric, a sustainable city is an urban centre where infrastructure and energy go hand- in-hand. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure enables it, its partners and its customers to lead a new world of energy that is more electric, more digitised, more decarbonised and more decentralised. Schneider Electric also uses its EcoStruxure Power, Building and Grid solutions to help its own buildings and data centres to be more resource efficient and profitable;
Carbon pricing: the introduction of robust, clear and predictable carbon pricing mechanisms, that take into account specificities across regions, along with the adoption of ambitious, long-term policy frameworks that favour low carbon solutions and incentivise innovation are essential to reduce CO2 emissions. Schneider Electric has already adopted an internal price of carbon as part of its various programs to reduce its CO2 footprint, which include setting bold energy efficiency targets; introducing renewable energy projects; optimising logistical operations, such as transportation routes and container fill rates; and eco-design of its products with CO2 considerations front of mind;
Raising awareness of sustainability is crucial for making the world greener: doing more with less is possible now, but to successfully face climate change, we need to involve and change behaviours across society. Schneider Electric and its Foundation – under the aegis of Foundation de France – are committed to raising awareness amongst its employees, customers, partners and shareholders
globally. Its aim is to demonstrate that creativity and innovation are major levers in acceleration change by offering the general public new and original means of action and reflections, mobilising their own creativity. Schneider Electric is also developing tools such as a Footprint Calculator that allows users to measure their demand on natural resources and assess their personal Earth Overshoot Day (the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year);
Importance of gender equality for energy transition: Fiji Presidency of COP23 will focus on the disproportionate vulnerability of women and the approaches that can make them more resilient. Schneider Electric supports training and entrepreneurship programs for women and has an objective for 2017 to have 85 percent of employees work in countries with Schneider Electric gender pay equity.
