Schneider Electric calls for decarbonisation in energy transition

Schneider Electric calls for greater efforts to accelerate the energy transition, research finds most companies planning to spend under 2 percent of revenues on sustainability and decarbonisation initiatives.
Schneider Electric, a pioneer in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has urgently urged governments and businesses to step up their investments in sustainable technologies and advance their sustainability initiatives. These measures will help them cut carbon emissions and improve their energy security.
The call comes as energy costs are rising, there is a crisis in the energy sector, and climate change is speeding up. These three factors together provide significant difficulties for businesses, economies, and societies all around the world. Senior Schneider Electric officials will attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from January 16 to 20, which will be framed by these difficulties.
“Today’s climate and energy crises are an economic reality for ever-increasing numbers of people. As business leaders and policymakers come together at Davos, we must act in our own best long-term, not short-term, interests,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Schneider Electric’s Chairman and CEO.  “We must not avoid the tough decisions. There can be no long-term prosperity without a complete energy transition. At Schneider, our approach is to “digitise, strategise, – decarbonise”—businesses, governments, and societies must do this now, to make good on the commitments they have made.”
Schneider Electric’s products, software, and services in the fields of industrial automation and energy management assist companies, industries, building managers, and households in decarbonising and digitising their energy usage, which accounts for 38 percent of global CO2 emissions from the built environment and another 32 percent from industry[1].
Through surveys, research, and in-depth publications collected by the Schneider Electric Sustainability Research Institute, Schneider Electric also provides detailed insights into decarbonisation trends and solutions.
Schneider commissioned an independent study of more than 500 C-suite executives last year, and it concluded that the complexity of decarbonisation frequently hinders corporate sustainability promises and expenditures. Despite the fact that such investments are frequently efficient and cost-effective, with returns on investment frequently falling between one and three years, the average financial commitment to sustainability and decarbonisation initiatives across the companies surveyed was less than 2 percent of projected revenue over the next three years.
Stakeholder alignment, budget, technology, skills, and regulations were mentioned by respondents as difficulties in implementing sustainability. The majority did, however, emphasise that their sustainability plan for the following three years will focus heavily on improved industrial automation and the improvement of electrical infrastructure.
While electrification—a crucial demand-side measure—ranks low among organisations’ sustainability priorities, it is one of the top supply-side projects being pursued. Along with electrification, achieving enhanced infrastructure efficiency through automation and digitalisation will be one of the most significant levers in the next decade, as it will be the fastest and most cost-effective way for many organisations to reduce emissions.
Embracing sustainability as a business imperative, with digital solutions key to navigating the global energy crisis
Focusing on industries where electrification is both viable and desirable may increase electricity’s proportion of the energy mix from 20 percent to 50 percent, according to a new Schneider Electric analysis of the EU’s electrification potential. As a result, the ratio of natural gas to oil would decrease by almost 50 percent, greatly enhancing energy security. To understand and deal with this shift more swiftly and effectively, Schneider Electric provides targeted, useful solutions.
The current energy crisis in Europe, according to Schneider Electric, comes after decades of safe, dependable energy supply and rather constant prices. Many people are now dealing with unreliable energy supply and unaffordable costs for the first time, showing a failure in both long-term energy security planning and the execution of decarbonisation strategies. The significance of reevaluating the entire energy equation, from the supply side (energy transition) to the demand side (energy efficiency), is further highlighted.
“Purpose and profits must align to become powerful forces in the fight against climate change,” said Tricoire. “We already have the technology to avert the energy and climate crises, and to deliver safe, reliable, and sustainable energy distribution and energy use. Our data-driven approach, spanning industrial automation, digitisation and the digital twin technology of the enterprise metaverse, combines to unlock a brighter, more sustainable and more prosperous future. The urgency for action has never been greater than it is now.”