Schneider Electric – Karan Kapoor – 2024
SummaryKaran Kapoor assisted in identifying and implementing solutions to facilitate the decarbonization of Schneider Electric’s products, carbon footprint, and supply chain, including by leveraging regulatory and business incentives.GoalsSchneider Electric aimed to make further advancements in its sustainability journey by ensuring decarbonization of its Scope 3 emissions and by facilitating a reduction in its products’ carbon footprint. As a leader in Sustainability, Schneider also wanted to explore avenues through which it can engage with industry stakeholders to facilitate increased adoption of sustainable business practices and ensure industry-wide decarbonization. To achieve these goals, Karan Kapoor was brought in by the Power Products Division of Schneider Electric, to support the implementation of existing initiatives and explore further solutions to ensure effective decarbonization.SolutionsKaran approached the project by:
1. Engaging with the Products Team and Material Experts to develop a strategy to incorporate sustainable materials (with reduced carbon footprint) in identified Schneider Products and support implementation thereof. The project required him to undertake a comprehensive review of financial data and products’ carbon footprint.
2. Developing initial Supplier Engagement Strategy, including by conducting research and feasibility checks, towards developing business incentives and leveraging regulatory incentives to achieve a reduction in suppliers’ emissions, including by facilitating renewable energy and fleet electrification for suppliers.
3. Developing a report for a standards-setting body capturing therein relevant lifecycle stages of an Electrical product and recommending baseline benchmark standards in respect of each stage. The idea is that, upon meeting these standards, a product can be regarded as a Sustainable Electrical Product and shall have a reduced carbon footprint, thereby facilitating industry-wide decarbonization.Potential ImpactThe efforts mentioned above shall not only reduce the carbon footprint of Schneider Products, owing to the integration of Sustainable Materials, but also shall reduce scope 3 (upstream) emissions of the business vertical by ~25% (from 2021 baseline) by 2030. Separately, the successful development and adoption of standards for a Sustainable Electrical Product is likely to ensure:
(a) at least 60% recyclability in absolute terms for the product
(b) at least 50% renewable energy adoption by the organization that follows the standards
(c) effective industry decarbonization. For clarity, the engagement towards development of aforesaid standards is still in the initial stage.
