For the fifth year, Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, announces its financial and non-financial results together for the third quarter of 2019. Each quarter, Schneider Electric publishes 21 indicators from the Schneider Sustainability Impact, measuring progress towards its ambitious sustainability commitments for 2018 to 2020, in line with its COP 21 commitments and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With a total score of 7.08 out of 10 in Q3 2019, the Group reached the Schneider Sustainability Impact target of 7 out of 10 for the end of 2019, a quarter in advance.
Gilles Vermot Desroches, Sustainability Senior VP at Schneider Electric, commented: "This quarter, Schneider Electric has significantly stepped up its commitments towards the United nations Sustainable Development Goals. First by joining the Business for Inclusive Growth coalition with 33 other companies to lead the way in tackling inequality and promoting diversity in the workplace and supply chain. Then by presenting robust climate commitments at Climate Week in New York, along with 86 other companies of the Business for 1.5°C ambition initiative, to achieve carbon neutrality in its ecosystem in the short term, and decarbonization of its operations and supply chain in the mid and long term. Schneider Electric will leverage its EcostruxureTM solutions to deliver its own targets and help more customers save CO2 emissions. Since the launch of Schneider Sustainability Impact, it already helped customers save 88 million tons CO2. With new Access to Energy offers, the Group will also keep helping millions of people in emerging countries meet basic energy needs.”
Quarter highlights
Climate:
The "increase in turnover for our Energy & Sustainability Services" indicator shows very strong performance at +20.2% in Q3 2019. The high growth is boosted by the energy efficiency business with the public sector in the US. The energy sourcing business is contributing to the growth as well. Energy & Sustainability Services targets a 25% increase in sales in 2020 compared to the 2017 baseline
Circular economy:
For Q3 2019, 96% cardboard and pallets for transport packing come from recycled or certified sources. This excellent performance results from a good teamwork focusing on clear communication with regional suppliers and real-time adaptation of part numbers in internal Schneider Electric systems. Some regions are already optimized while the remaining ones show increasing improvement. Internal regional actions have been put in place to focus on this KPI, like increasing the use to recycled wood and studies launched to increase lifecycle of pallets hence reducing the need to purchase additional ones
Health & Equity:
The 3rd quarter MIR is at 0.70, 24% better than the target for 2019 and 26% better than the result for 2018. This outstanding performance is due to the collective efforts of all Schneider Electric employees and the improvement activities implemented by safety teams throughout the organization. Additionally, Global Safety Day, Schneider Electric’s annual campaign to promote the importance of safety at work and at home, was celebrated on October 16th. The topic for this year was "S.A.F.E. First applied to Emergency Preparedness". Global Safety Day engages employees to celebrate the commitment to a culture of safety. This year, the campaign generated awareness on the different types of emergencies and taught collaborators how to be prepared for any potential catastrophic event
Ethics:
As of Q3 2019, 244 audits have been conducted for suppliers under Human Rights & Environment vigilance. The 3-year program ambition has been elevated from 300 to 350 specific onsite audits, and Schneider Electric is well on track to reach overall target. In alignment with the Group strategy and vision, and to comply with the 2017-French law concerning the Corporate Duty of Vigilance, Schneider Electric committed to implementing a vigilance plan. This includes identifying and managing suppliers that are most exposed to risks in terms of labor practices, health & safety, and environment. Yearly, a supplier risk mapping is performed through a recognized third-party expert mapping tool. The Group’s risk management process includes control actions after the audits, focusing on improvement and closure of Non-Conformances
Development:
As of Q3 2019, 236,491 underprivileged people have been trained in energy management in more than 45 countries and aims to reach 1 million by 2025. Based on three priorities, entrepreneurship, integration of women into the energy professions, and training of trainers, the program allows participants to improve future access to a skilled job or business creation. The major challenge is to pursue a long-term partnership policy with local and global players able to replicate the projects. NGO ADEI (Action-Development-Education-International), after replication in several centers in Tanzania and Burundi, confirms its expertise to set up short term courses in three new centers in Rwanda
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