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Schneider Electric: The Most Sustainable Company in The World 2021

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At Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services (ESS), most of the sustainability accolades are about YOU—our dedicated clients who, with our help, are advancing their own sustainability, efficiency and renewable energy commitments. However, today we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our company’s own sustainability accomplishments, as we’ve hit a milestone we’re extremely proud to share. On January 25th, 2021, for the first time, Corporate Knights, a leading Canadian media and research company producing rankings based on corporate sustainability performance, recognized Schneider Electric as the world’s most sustainable corporation in 2021. 

There are a lot of companies out there that seek to help businesses and consumers be more sustainable in some way. Some will help you chart a sustainability roadmap and set goals; some will help you digitize and electrify your business; some will help you put solar panels on your roof; some will sell you sustainable products. Not only do we do all these things (and more) at Schneider Electric, but we’re also on our own sustainability journey right alongside the businesses we serve. We are transforming our operations – from our office buildings to our manufacturing processes to our products to our supply chain – to be the most sustainable and digital that they can be.

We’re humbled and extremely energized by Corporate Knights’ recognition of Schneider Electric as the most sustainable company in the world. It’s a title that we will not take lightly, and an aspiration that each of us in our  Energy and Sustainability Services division genuinely strives for through the services we provide to our clients every day. A jump from 29th position the previous year, the top ranking for 2021 represents an important external recognition of Schneider Electric’s early and sustained commitment to ESG issues. It also highlights our transformation into a leading provider of digital solutions that facilitate energy efficiency and sustainability.

“The core of our strategy is to build a sustainable business and company. Customers, employees, partners and investors have never been more focused on ESG considerations than they are now. Schneider has long embraced those issues, and we keep raising the bar for ourselves, and for our customers and partners,” said our Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire. “When we introduced our first sustainability barometer in 2005, we were an early adopter of ESG matters. But ESG commitments cannot just be a one-off, and we have reinforced ours every three years. All of us – companies, governments, individuals – can contribute to make the world greener and more inclusive. Our new commitments define the next steps of our contribution.” 

As the Corporate Knights put in our company profile write up, Schneider Electric is at the heart of the decarbonization megatrend, which is promised to shape the global economy for decades to come. To give an idea of what this means to us, we’d like to highlight some of the sustainability work that’s underway at Schneider Electric.

Schneider’s Sustainability Impact Program

The 2021-2025 Schneider Sustainability Impact (SSI) program amounts to a significant acceleration of previous targets. It is built on six long-term commitments, which are set to deliver on each of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These commitments are:

  1. Act for a climate-positive world
  2. Be efficient with resources
  3. Live up to our principles of trust
  4. Create equal opportunities
  5. Harness the power of all generations and
  6. Empower local communities

“The ability and willingness to make the world greener and more equitable is not just a moral responsibility – it makes good business sense too,” said Olivier Blum, our Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “The year 2020, marked by COVID-19, a string of climate-linked disasters, and the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change, reinforced the urgency for action. It has also intensified the appetite from our customers to accelerate their own transitions towards a lower-carbon world. Our solutions can help them achieve their goals, too.”

Eleven concrete targets, deliverable by 2025, underpin these commitments. And, for the first time, leaders of the more than 100 markets in which Schneider operates will set local targets to address grassroots-level needs in their communities.

Repeatedly recognized in key rankings for our sustainability achievements, Schneider will continue to report on our extra-financial performance on a quarterly basis, as we have done since launching the world’s first corporate sustainability barometer in 2005.

In just the past year, Schneider already stepped up on our own decarbonization roadmap and became a signatory of the Climate Pledge; was the first company to issue an ESG-linked convertible bond; was ranked CDP A-List for environmental transparency and action for the 10th year in a row; was honored with many recognitions including The Climate Group’s inaugural Clean Energy Trailblazer award; and was included in the Financial Times’ Top 50 Diversity Leaders ranking.

Click through for more on Schneider’s sustainability strategy and our number 1 ranking in Corporate Knights’ Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world index.