Already a leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, Schneider Electric has become the latest big player to sign up to The Climate Group’s and CDP's RE100 campaign, with a commitment to sourcing 100% renewable electricity across its global operations by 2030 (80% by 2020).
Schneider Electric is also doubling its energy productivity by 2030 (2005 baseline) through EP100, a sibling campaign also led by The Climate Group, in partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy.
The new commitments send a strong signal to governments meeting in Paris for the One Planet Summit: two years on from the adoption of the historic Paris Agreement, businesses are stepping up their contribution to its implementation.
“Joining RE100 and EP100 represents a smart business decision for Schneider Electric, said Helen Clarkson, Chief Executive Officer, The Climate Group.
"These commitments will help the company to deliver on its wider climate ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030. Doubling energy productivity will help it to use energy as economically as possible while making the transition to renewables, which are themselves cost-competitive in many markets."
She added, "I welcome the powerful signal Schneider Electric is sending to peers, investors and governments, to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions economy.”
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric, said, “When it comes to the climate, I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist, I’m an activist. Prosperity and energy are intertwined. For Schneider Electric, contributing to the process of achieving carbon neutrality is an ambitious and productive challenge."
He continued: "Joining The Climate Group’s EP100 and RE100 initiatives is a demonstration of how consumers and business can be empowered to ensure the affordability, resilience, sustainability, and security of the energy that they consume.”
Plans in the pipeline
Schneider Electric aims to transition to 100% renewable power through a wide range of renewable electricity sources at more than 1,000 sites in multiple countries around the world. Its plans include on-site projects such as geothermal and solar energy, off-site Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for wind and solar power, and renewable electricity certificates and green tariffs.
The company has already reduced its energy consumption by 10% every three years for the past decade. Going forward, Schneider Electric plans to double its energy productivity partly through use of its own technical solutions, such as EcoStruxure™, an Internet-of-things (IoT)-enabled smart technology.
Emmanuel Lagarrigue, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President at Schneider Electric, elaorated: “We are in a new world of energy that is becoming more electric, more decarbonized, more decentralized, and more digital. Our mission at Schneider Electric is to supply the technologies that permit, drive and catalyze the transition to a new world of energy.
"The commitments we have made today in joining RE100 and EP100 to source 100% renewable electricity and reflecting on the doubling of our energy productivity are a demonstration of how consumers and business can be empowered to ensure the affordability, resilience, sustainability, and security of the energy that they consume.”
Wider business action
Ahead of the One Planet Summit, Schneider Electric is one of 89 French companies, representing an overall turnover of €1,500 billion euros and six million jobs worldwide, that have signed the 2017 French Business Climate Pledge, affirming “the need to collectively change course, in order to bring about a drastic reduction of global greenhouse (GHG) emissions”. The pledge includes a call for better carbon pricing.
Meanwhile, French utility EDF Group has committed to transitioning to electric vehicles by 2030 through EV100, The Climate Group's recently launched initiative aiming to make electric transport “the new normal”. Together, The Cimate Group's business campaigns RE100 (renewable electricity), EP100 (energy productivity) and EV100 (electric transport), are designed to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions economy.
Want to know more? Read our interview with Xavier Houot, SVP Global Safety, Environment, Real Estate, Schneider Electric.