(upbeat music plays)
- Hi folks, my name is Ryan O'Neill.
I am the Climate Sales Director
at Schneider Electric Energy and Sustainability Services.
And today we have convened a group
of Schneider's sustainability and climate action experts
to discuss some of the implications of the IPCC report
which was released on August 9th.
And in this report,
which the UN has in fact described
as a code red for humanity,
scientists have warned about faster global warming
and regional changes that are causing irreversible damage
and extreme weather events.
And so we're here today to help our clients
and the business community at large to translate
what this means further path forward.
And I wanna start with Stephanie.
Stephanie is a sustainability consultant
with our business.
So Stephanie,
how have you seen these impacts affecting companies today?
And what does this mean for their climate goals?
- Yeah, Ryan.
I think the timing is very interesting,
right? This report has been released right now at a time
when many regions around the world
are feeling really intensified impacts of climate change.
So we have seen that recent extreme weather events.
They have threatened not only companies around the world,
but also communities in very dramatic ways.
So most recently in the US,
in the beginning of the year,
we saw for example,
a polar event in Texas,
energy crisis that followed it.
We also saw fires in California that calls many blackouts.
And here in Germany,
more recently resolved unprecedented catastrophic flooding.
So of course, those are only a few examples
among many other examples of events
that are affecting many regions across the world.
And of course that mitigating these effects
of climate change will require us to rapidly,
to move very fast
and rapidly reduce greenhouse gases emissions.
In this sense,
I believe that business do have a critical role to play
when it comes to meeting global net zero ambitions,
limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
And of course we know that those targets,
so corporate net zero,
carbon neutrality commitments,
they are critical for the future of our climate.
And the report also says that,
the report also says that the current trajectory
of emissions reductions based on today's commitments,
is still not nearly aggressive enough
to avoid warming past 1.5 degree threshold.
So this means that business that have goals,
they will need to stop and evaluate
whether those goals are really based
on what science dictators needed
to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
And if not, they will need to adjust them accordingly.
And on the other hand,
business that do not have those goals,
they will need to come to terms with the fact that all,
if all industries do not act
and contributes to reducing emissions as fast
and as much as possible,
by mid-century,
economic performance and business viability will suffer.
- [Ryan] Hmm.
Sound's great. Thanks Stephanie.
I think it's very true that all companies
need to step up on their commitments,
even the most ambitious companies.
If the world is a truly have an impact
in terms of changing the course of climate change.
In latest report,
you know, many companies may be wondering
what they can do today to make a difference.
So, and that's an addition to setting
some ambitious long-term goals.
So I'd like to ask Emily
from our Global Strategic Renewables team to weigh in here.
So Emily, what recommendations do you have
for near term changes that companies can initiate today?
- Yeah. Yeah.
Thanks Ryan. And hi everyone.
Yeah, I'm happy to share some really positive
insight here.
And to start,
you know, accelerating the transition from coal
to fossil-free power or clean power
by switching to renewable energy
is today one of the most accessible ways
for companies to reduce their CO2 emissions
while also transitioning the collective grid
to renewable energy.
And this transition is happening right now.
A few weeks ago,
the US government's EIA department just released a report
that revealed that in 2020,
renewable energy here in US
became the second most prevalent electricity source,
surpassing coal for the very first time on record,
which is huge news.
And in part,
that is really due to all of the US corporate action
being taken here to transition to renewable energy.
And so now here in the US,
we are at 21% renewable
here on the grid,
while coal is now below at 19%.
And that will continue to go down as corporates
and other utilities begin to transition
to renewable energy.
So to answer your question about how companies
can take immediate action right now,
I'm gonna share three primary ways
that companies can do this right now.
And the first way is with renewable energy
power purchase agreements or PPAs.
And while this process
can take several months
to over a year to vet and complete,
your team's effort towards a PPA is worth it
because of PPA means that you are directly responsible
for adding a new utility scale,
wind and solar to the grid.
And
a PPA is also one of the most cost effective ways
globally to procure renewables for corporates.
Now, the second thing companies can do right now
is to invest in highly credible carbon offsets.
And I stress the highly credible part.
But carbon offsets do remove CO2 from the atmosphere
while also enabling you to reduce your direct emissions.
Meaning your operational emissions for the short term,
while you develop a longer-term strategy to ramp up
to achieving true net zero.
And then the third thing that companies can do right now
is to engage your supply chain on decarbonization.
And developing a plan to engage your value chain partners
can seem like a very daunting process at first,
right? Especially if you have hundreds
or even thousands of suppliers.
But really taking that time to educate and support,
and or partner with your value chain
on their own renewable energy deployment is number one,
how you drive real lasting action amongst your supply chain,
and also how you truly scale the reach
of your company's sustainability impact.
And what this also achieves is credibility and transparency
which is what all stakeholders today are looking for.
- That's brilliant, Emily.
Thank you for that insight.
I think that really underscores that there are many actions
that our company can in fact take today
to accelerate their emissions reduction journey.
So I think if we move away from the near term
and look more towards the long-term,
and in the long term,
addressing climate change will require businesses
to transform the way they work towards model
that will allow them to thrive in a low carbon world.
So what we're saying here is that the strategies and tactics
that had brought business success in a carbon-based economy
will not necessarily work in the future.
And that's especially in the face
of increasing climate change risk.
So for this, I'd like to bring in Lindsey,
who's a sustainability consultant within our business.
So Lindsey,
how should organizations think about evolving their business
to remain relevant?
How can they address climate risk
and meet the needs of customers in the future?
- Thanks Ryan.
So as Stephania already mentioned,
we know that climate related risks are present.
They're already here,
this year or previous years.
And they're growing with their intensity
and their frequency, right?
And so they have become a significant threat
to much of the economy,
our companies, businesses,
but also our communities
and the people that reside within them.
And the pandemic that has recently affected everyone
has really hit fast forward on many of the transition risks.
And when I say transition risks,
I mean, those risks that are emerging as companies,
as we are all transitioning to a low carbon economy.
And so the pandemic had put companies under pressure
to map out their climate related risks
and start to build a proactive response,
to not just mitigate or lessen the risks that exist today,
or are starting to emerge,
but also to adapt and secure their license to operate.
Not just now, but in the future.
And to sort of build in that resiliency.
So companies, how do they do that?
Right? They can adapt through a combination of digital
and sustainable transformations.
On the digital side,
technology has revolutionized the way that we work together.
Even just the past year and a half,
we've identified and excelled in new ways
of working together,
which has been amazing,
and has also revolutionized the way that we live together.
But the next step is also revolutionizing
the way that we live within our environment.
If our environment is changing around us,
the way that we live in it,
the way that we interact with it also needs to change.
So how do we do that?
Using IoT to connect every asset
in your business to big data,
digitization provides an untapped pathway to sustainability.
And it's a major tool
in cutting your scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
in cutting your scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
The introduction of artificial intelligence also allows
your business to get more value of the data
that
you produce,
that you already have,
and provides an even more accurate and efficient analysis
as the foundation of your sustainability strategy.
So having a mind plus machine approach
improves the insights and analysis of a company's energy
and sustainability portfolio.
Which can drive more efficient value
and even bottom line impact,
in pursuit of climate change resilience,
and other resource and emissions reduction targets
that you might already be using today as a tool
to help you achieve
that climate resilience that you're looking for,
to have that license to operate in the future.
Right?
So I said digital and sustainable transformation.
So what are sustainable transformations?
We've seen so many purpose-driven businesses pop up,
but also traditional businesses defining their purpose,
right?
They've already had it,
but communicating it clearly and with intent,
and to thrive in a world with increased demands
for transparency,
equality,
and social and environmental responsibility,
companies can only continue to maximize their value
by creating shared value for everyone.
And at the heart of this is reenvisioning the purpose
of your company.
Purpose-driven corporations find themselves
better positioned than other companies
to access and utilize tools
that both serve resilience and operational viability
in the long run.
When doing this well,
embedding sustainability into your business strategy
enables organizations to deliver better results
for all your stakeholders,
your shareholders,
communities.
And by acting the best interest of everyone
to promote social and environmental equity,
it helps to deliver higher and more sustainable returns
to your shareholders over time.
I'd also say that building values of the circular economy,
from end to end,
from design to end use of the life of your products,
helps businesses innovate,
utilize fewer resources and materials,
and to drive greater value from the resources
that you are using today.
Circular business models also help to drive competitiveness
by identifying cost savings and resilience,
improving engagement with the supply chain and customers.
That's so very important.
And helping act on climate change commitments
by reducing your scope 3 emissions.
Which if you've already qualified
your scope 3 emissions,
you know, is one of the largest sources
and also more challenging ones
to get under control or to tackle.
So you really have to have an agenda for sustainability
and digitization that's core to your company's purpose,
so that you can then continue to drive long-term value
and combat climate change.
- It's great, Lindsey.
Thank you very much for that.
And in fact, thank you to all of our guests today.
Thank you, Stephanie and Emily
for your fantastic insights and recommendations.
Much appreciated.
Just to move on and to wrap up,
you know, with COP26,
it just a few months away.
This latest IPCC report really underscores the need
for leaders to negotiate bolder commitments
around mitigation, adaption,
sustainable finance and global collaboration.
Now we fully appreciate and understand
that mobilizing a business to act swiftly
around the IPCCs latest science is not a simple task at all.
But the great news that you heard today
is that there are tools and best practices available
to support you.
So with the right partners and experts on your side,
you can break down the climate journey
into actionable roadmap,
to an actionable roadmap,
to make it clear path for your business
to reach even the most ambitious goals.
And so, as you've heard from the speakers today,
it takes innovation and willingness
to disrupt the challenge,
and challenge the norm to bring real change
to your operations and industry at large.
So it's no longer about the discussion
on sustainability or climate change.
Now is the time to be bold.
And now is the time to act.
Thank you.
(upbeat music plays)