Schneider Electric has been ranked the world’s most sustainable corporation, in a prestigious annual list compiled by Corporate Knights, a media and research company focused on corporate sustainability performance.
“We are honoured and grateful to be ranked number one by Corporate Knights,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Schneider Electric’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “It is a major encouragement for our teams and partners, and a great recognition of more than 15 years of engagement to make our company and the world greener and more inclusive. Sustainability is a journey that we accomplish with our people, partners, suppliers, customers and communities where we operate. This recognition goes also to all of them.”
The number one position on Corporate Knights’ 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world ranking marks a big jump from 29th place the previous year and represents a high-profile external acknowledgement of Schneider’s long-standing commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
“There are two sides to the sustainability coin,” says Gilles Vermot Desroches, Sustainability Senior VP at Schneider Electric. “We aim to lead by example within our own operations and ecosystem, and we work to be part of the solution for our customers. Sustainability improves performance, innovation and our attractiveness as a place to work. It creates value.”
Corporate Knights’ 2021 ranking was based on an assessment of 8,080 companies with more than US$1 billion in revenues. Performance indicators include evaluations of how much renewable energy and waste companies generate. This year, they also included new indicators on sick leave, executive and board racial diversity, and clean investments.
The Toronto-based company called out Schneider’s steady shift towards products and services that help customers manage their energy needs more efficiently and safely.
“In recent decades, Schneider has shifted its focus to data centers; storage and other distributed energy resources; and smart solutions that advance electrification, energy efficiency and renewability. It now earns 70 per cent of its revenue from, and directs 73 per cent of its investments toward, sustainable solutions,” says Toby Heaps CEO of Corporate Knights. “Schneider Electric also performs strongly in racial and gender diversity and in resource productivity and safety.”
Schneider Electric was an early adopter of ESG considerations and has dialed up its sustainability commitments repeatedly and ambitiously over the past decade and a half. The latest acceleration of its sustainability strategy, also announced on January 25, involves six long-term commitments and eleven concrete targets, deliverable by 2025. Together, these aim to help Schneider, the businesses and communities it serves and interacts with, to address climate change and social inclusion.
