The world must accelerate urgent climate action and halve carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030. According to Schneider Electric, a leading player in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, during the kick-off of their Innovation Summit World Tour 2021, Schneider Electric Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire’s encouraged achievable pathways to net zero as set out in the “The 2030 imperative: A race against time” report from the Schneider Electric Sustainability Research Institute.
The report highlights global climate challenges and provides guidance on rapidly reducing emissions to decarbonize the world’s economy in this decade. The report offers Schneider Electric’s own research on how to stay within a global warming trajectory of 1.5°C degrees. This report details the need to reduce emissions by 30-50 per cent this decade, compared to current levels. Missing this makes it virtually impossible to limit temperature rise to a 1.5°C degree threshold as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
Schneider Electric is calling for a 3-5 times greater effort from governments and corporates. The Institute believes the only realistic roadmap for success is to deploy proven digital technologies alongside increased electrification as the fastest way to decarbonize buildings, transport, and industry. This approach buys time to address hard-to-abate sectors. It’s modelling clearly shows alternative suggestions will place too high a burden on consumers.
“Despite increased momentum around sustainability and more companies adopting ambitious targets to tackle climate change, this research reveals how we need to speed up. At Schneider Electric, we are uniquely part of the solution. To support organizations in their quest to decarbonize at pace and deliver on their climate commitments, we are accelerating the expansion of our global sustainability consulting services business to meet the increasing demand for meaningful progress on energy transition and climate action goals,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric. “What organizations require today is a trusted partner who combines strategic planning and target setting with a proven track record of solutions implementation to deliver faster tangible sustainable outcomes. Having successfully overcome many sustainability challenges ourselves, and in so doing, achieved world-leading digital and electric solutions in our own facilities, we are well-positioned to help”.
