CPHI Pharma Awards 2023 – Sustainability winners: Schneider Electric

After another year of impressive nominations for the CPHI Pharma Awards our winners were announced at CPHI Barcelona in October 2023. In this series of interviews, we speak to the people and teams behind the award-winning projects, concepts, and technologies. 

Please can you give some background to Schneider Electric and the aims and goals of the company?

Schneider Electric is a leading global energy company with over €40 billion energy spend under management. The Sustainability Business has consulted for 40% of Fortune 500 companies as an independent advisor, helping corporate clients understand the costs, benefits, risks, and opportunities for sustainability initiatives including all types of renewable energy contracts. 

The sustainability business has a broader portfolio of climate action solutions including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data management with EcoStruxure™ Resource Advisor, global energy management services, energy efficiency, supply chain decarbonisation, and digital connectivity programme development.

Additionally, Schneider Electric is committed to reducing emissions in its own value chain through its Zero Carbon Project, aiming to cut emissions from its top 1,000 suppliers by 50% by 2025.  

You won the ‘Sustainability’ prize for the Energize programme – please can you tell us a little more about this programme?

Energize is a first-of-its-kind programme fostering collaboration between corporate sponsors and their suppliers to mitigate the overall environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry. Leading pharmaceutical companies have partnered with Schneider Electric to deliver renewable electricity education and expert consultation at no cost for their suppliers. The Energize programme is designed for suppliers of any size and at any stage in their decarbonisation journey to take concrete steps towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, associated with their electricity consumption. The programme has made considerable progress since its initial launch at COP26 in 2021 and has grown from 10 founding sponsors to 20 sponsor companies and is still growing.   

Energize is one of many supply chain renewable initiatives designed and delivered by Schneider Electric Sustainability Business. The programme is endorsed by the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI). 

Have you encountered any challenges in recruiting companies to join the programme? 

Gaining brand awareness for a new programme or initiative always has its challenges. Participation from the programme sponsors to engage their suppliers and encourage them to join Energize has been crucial to programme adoption. As part of the programme design, Schneider Electric offers marketing and communication support for the sponsors to leverage to communicate with suppliers about the programme and increase supplier engagement in the programme.

We have collaborated and formed strong relationships in the industry including an endorsement from the PSCI. The PSCI helps promote the Energize programme among their membership, which has helped us overcome those challenges and build brand awareness and recognition. 

How can this programme be used to improve the development of, and adherence to regulations around sustainability? 

Suppliers face a number of challenges related to reducing their emissions, including typical barriers to renewable electricity procurement. These barriers include limited knowledge about renewable electricity transactions and the renewables market, constraints due to electricity usage volume, credit challenges, and the need for guidance throughout complex contracting processes. Energize is designed to assist companies of all sizes in overcoming these barriers. Suppliers that join the programme gain access to expert consultation provided by Schneider Electric and access to live and on-demand education through a digital platform powered by Schneider Electric’s Zeigo Hub. Supply chain partners are supported with the opportunity to design a renewable electricity procurement strategy that leverages best-fit options for their business. 

Corporate actions to decarbonise will position companies well to meet current and future global climate change regulations and carbon taxes. Widespread collective action and the establishment of industry best practices is likely to inform the development of future regulations in a manner that makes it easier for corporations to comply by governments recognising and accepting the decarbonisation levers most widely used. That said, most organisations are currently pursuing decarbonisation voluntarily in response to stakeholder interests, including employees, shareholders, and customers.  

What are some typical ways that the programme encourages renewable energy use, and how do these help to stabilise the supply chain? 

Energize facilitates collaboration and partnership between the sponsor companies and their suppliers with the formation of buyers’ cohorts for multi-buyer power purchase agreements (PPAs). The programme currently has five buyers’ cohorts comprised of sponsor companies and suppliers representing a potential combined demand of 2 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity across the UK and the EU. The cohort model provides access to renewable electricity through a long-term PPA for many suppliers that would not have enough electricity demand to meet the scale needed to execute a PPA on their own. The transition to renewable electricity via buyers’ cohorts represents a long-term investment by the sponsor companies and their suppliers to bring new renewable electricity projects to the grid and reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions for the next 10 years. 

What does winning the award mean to you and how will it help you as a company?

This award was accepted by Schneider Electric on behalf of the Energize programme and the Energize sponsor companies. Energize sponsors have made the commitment to reduce their Scope 3 emissions and have made an investment in their suppliers, to empower them with the necessary tools and resources to adopt renewable electricity. Winning this award demonstrates that the Energize programme is making real progress and is positioned to tangibly help the pharmaceutical sector transition to a lower carbon future. Together, the sponsor companies and their suppliers are addressing the climate crisis by transitioning to renewable electricity, which in turn helps to address our planet’s health crisis.

As a leading sustainability programme in the pharmaceutical industry, Energize recognises that the climate crisis and health crisis are inextricably linked, and must be addressed together. The recognition from this award will continue to increase the brand awareness for the Energize programme, hopefully inspiring more suppliers to join, decarbonise, and address two of the most critical challenges our planet faces. 

What does the future hold for Schneider Electric and the Energize Programme? What further initiatives do you have in the pipeline?  

The Energize programme was initially launched with a focus on Europe and North America. The programme is expanding and we’re supporting suppliers globally with opportunities to contract for renewables. To date we’ve supported suppliers to contract for renewable electricity across 9 markets including more challenging markets such as Japan, China, and Singapore. We’ve also launched education sessions focused on innovative renewable procurement opportunities for companies in the United States to leverage the Inflation Reduction Act’s transferability clause through tax credit transfers. We’re excited to continue to support sponsor companies and their suppliers to navigate the diverse array of energy procurement options. 

Learn more about the Energize Programme below. 

About Simon Gerard

Simon Gerrard, Director Renewable Energy and Carbon Advisory, Schneider Electric Sustainability Business
Simon Gerrard leads the Energize programme in Europe. He is responsible for engaging with corporate sponsors and their suppliers in the programme with the formation of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Buyer’s Cohorts. 

Simon has been with Schneider Electric since 2019 and prior to that worked in the renewable energy sector for 15 years in PPA Origination and Renewable Energy project development roles. 

You can reach out to Simon to learn more about the Energize programme at [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-gerrard/