Event report • Interview
Past Event | A conversation with Mr. Xavier Denoly, Senior Vice President Sustainable Development at Schneider Electric
The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore kicked off July with an inspiring and engaging closed-door dialogue, featuring Mr. Xavier Denoly, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Development at Schneider Electric. Mr. Denoly shared the company’s strategies for driving sustainability and navigating the ESG transformation journey. The session was expertly moderated by Mrs. Sabrina Noiran, Chief Sustainability Officer from BNP Paribas CIB APAC.
Key Takeaways from the dialogue:
- Sustainability is ingrained in the leadership approach.
- In Schneider, sustainability efforts are driven from the top, ensuring a leadership-driven culture that embeds sustainable practices in all strategies.
- Sustainability is embedded in their Rewards: 20% of senior leaders' variable salary is tied to sustainability performance, with long-term incentives linked to external sustainability assessments.
- Setting ambitious goals with clear roadmap
- Schneider aims for net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2050.
- They focus heavily on Scope 3 emissions, with customers and suppliers, who account for 90% of their total emissions.
- For example, Schneider aims to reduce CO2 emissions from top 1000 suppliers by 50% by 2025 from 2010 as a baseline. In Q1 2024, they’ve reached 28% of their target.
- Building a sustainable community within the organization
- 3000 employees work on sustainability in the company.
- A sustainability school offers training to its employees, with a plan for an advanced Academy with expert modules.
- Redesigning the business portfolio
- Schneider is redesigning the offer portfolio to lower carbon footprint. embracing greener materials and circularity principles.
- They are also working on “reverse logistics”, bringing the products back to the factories for a second life.
- Collaboration
- Schneider works with their suppliers, mostly SMEs, through educations, evaluations, and assessments, and execution of their activities and reduce CO2 emissions
- The company also values the opportunities of working with other companies, including competitors, to drive meaningful changes.
- Controversial segments
- Like most companies, the company faces dilemmas serving controversial sectors, balancing between ethical considerations and business imperatives.
A special thanks to Schneider Electric for supporting our “A Conversation With” Series and hosting us.
For more information, please contact Lydia Fulton lfulton(@)fccsingapore.com
