Schneider Electric : > 17/07/2019 - Corporations’ long-term success hinges on their business model supporting humanity’s prosperity

Press release

Corporations' long-term success hinges on their business model supporting humanity's prosperity

• Ahead of Earth Overshoot Day 2019 (July 29), one-planet compatibility emerges as a powerful compass to gauge corporate strategies against ecological resource constraints

Rueil-Malmaison(France), July 17, 2019 - Ahead of Earth Overshoot Day this July 29, Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, announces its commitment to promote one-planet compatibility as the necessary framework for long-term business success. Schneider Electric's breakthrough White Paper, published on July 22*, lays out the detailed approach and supporting metric for one-planet compatibility and humanity's prosperity. It was developed in partnership with Global Footprint Network, the international sustainability organization that pioneered the Ecological Footprint.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when human demand for food, fiber, timber, and carbon absorption (global Ecological Footprint) exceeds the amount of biological resources that Earth's ecosystems can renew in the whole year (global biocapacity). This year, Earth Overshoot Day lands on the earliest date ever, July 29, according to Global Footprint Network. This date highlights that humanity is using biological resources 1.75 times faster than nature can renew them, worsening the ecological deficit for four months of

the year through depleting Earth's natural

capital. It is said that humanity "uses"

Evolution of the Earth Overshoot Day from 1970 to 2019

1.75 planets. Carbon emissions make up

60% of the total Ecological Footprint.

Since the world fell in ecological overshoot in the early 1970s, Earth Overshoot Day keeps creeping up the calendar. Thirty years ago, it landed in October, then late September twenty years ago. After a recent slowdown, the pace has picked up again in the past two years because of an uptake in carbon emissions.

The trend is reversible

One-planet compatibility requires moving the date of Earth Overshoot back to December 31 or beyond. Decarbonizing the economy is a powerful lever to #MoveTheDate. Cutting global carbon emissions in half would move the date by three months, according to Global Footprint Network. For the last two years, Schneider Electric has been working with Global Footprint Network to assess solutions. Research by these two organizations indicates that if 100% of the existing building and industry infrastructure were equipped with

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Media Relations	Media & Outreach
Schneider Electric	Global Footprint Network
Véronique (Luneau) Roquet-Montegon	Laetitia Mailhes
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone] x308 (CET)
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PR_G_EarthOvershootDay2019_EN

Press release

readily available energy efficiency and renewable energy technology from Schneider Electric and its partners, assuming no shift in human habits, the date of Earth Overshoot Day could move back by at least 21 days. This means that energy retrofits alone could make a difference of three weeks. For added perspective, if we move Earth Overshoot Day back by five days every year, we will be back to one-planet compatibility before 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.

"A leading company like Schneider Electric, whose corporate strategy centers on driving energy and resource efficiency, necessarily enjoys a thriving business model because it is built on moving humanity out of ecological overshoot," said Global Footprint Network founder Mathis Wackernagel.

"One-planet compatibility has to become a new measurement of how a given business strategy helps society, or not, move the date of Earth Overshoot Day," said Xavier Houot, Senior Vice President Global Safety, Environment, Real Estate. "Such a metric forces the adoption of an outside-in lens and introspect: 'Does our business operate within one-planet constraints and boundaries?' and 'Do our offers tangibly help our customers move out of ecological overshoot?'. If the answers are positive, long-term prosperity is much more likely. Being part of the solution carries increasingly more weight in the eyes of investors, markets... and millennials alike!"

Implications for business
In 2019, Schneider Electric and Global
Footprint Network teamed up to invite business
leaders to assess how one-planet compatibility
strategies can deliver differentiation and value
in the market. One-planet companies are those
companies whose goods and services
contribute to humanity's demands on nature
being in balance with what Earth's ecosystems
can provide. More specifically, those
companies whose business models increase
human well-being while also increasing
resource security (see Figure 2) are much
more likely to be economically successful in the
long-run than those companies that are
incompatible with one-planet prosperity and	Figure 2
will inevitably face shrinking demand and
increasing risks.

One-planet prosperity is a simple compass to assess companies' strategies against two essential questions: "Do I operate within one-planet constraints?" and "Do my offers help customers move out of ecological overshoot?", as indicated in the White Paper for C-level audiences. Titled "The business case for one-planet prosperity", it features strategies to deliver long-term value from several companies in diverse sectors such as energy, food, healthcare, and waste remediation.

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Media Relations	Media & Outreach
Schneider Electric	Global Footprint Network
Véronique (Luneau) Roquet-Montegon	Laetitia Mailhes
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone] x308 (CET)
[e-mail]	[e-mail]
Ref. Number :
PR_G_EarthOvershootDay2019_EN

Press release

*The White Paper "The business case for one-planet prosperity" will be presented by Schneider Electric and Global Footprint Network at an open Tweet-Chat that you can join with #SEMoveTheDate, starting July 22nd at 4 pm CET.

About Global Footprint Network

Global Footprint Network, who pioneered the Ecological Footprint accounting, is an international sustainability organisation that is helping the world live within the Earth's means and respond to climate change. Since 2003 we've engaged with more than 50 countries, 30 cities, and 70 global partners to deliver scientific insights that have driven high-impact policy and investment decisions. Together, we're creating a future where all of us can thrive within the limits of our one planet.

www.footprintnetwork.org

About Schneider Electric

At Schneider, we believe access to energy and digital is a basic human right. We empower all to do more with less, ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment.

We provide energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability. We combine world-leading energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services into integrated solutions for Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries.

We are committed to unleash the infinite possibilities of an open, global, innovative community that is passionate with our Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.se.com

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Media Relations	Media & Outreach
Schneider Electric	Global Footprint Network
Véronique (Luneau) Roquet-Montegon	Laetitia Mailhes
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone] x308 (CET)
[e-mail]	[e-mail]
Ref. Number :
PR_G_EarthOvershootDay2019_EN