Corporate Knights ranks Schneider Electric world's most sustainable corporation

Schneider Electric has been ranked the world’s most sustainable corporation in Corporate Knights’ 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations.

Securing the number one position on the prestigious annual list marks a big jump from 29th place in the previous year and represents acknowledgement of Schneider’s longstanding commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

“We are honoured and grateful to be ranked number one by Corporate Knights,” Schneider Electric Chairman and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire said. “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.”

“There are two sides to the sustainability coin,” Schneider Electric Sustainability Senior VP Gilles Vermot Desroches added. “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 8080 companies with more than US$1 billion in revenue. Performance indicators include evaluations of how much renewable energy and waste companies generate. This year, indicators on sick leave, executive and board racial diversity, and clean investments were also included.

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% of its revenue from, and directs 73% of its investments toward, sustainable solutions,” Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps said. “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 involves six long-term commitments and 11 concrete targets, deliverable by 2025. Together, these aim to help Schneider, as well as the businesses and communities it serves and interacts with, to address climate change and social inclusion.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Elnur