More than 50% of respondents
Energy, Carbon, and Waste Reduction Practices
I'm having trouble utilizing data.
Schneider Electric released its '2019 Corporate Energy and Sustainability Report' in conjunction with the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland.

The 2019 State of Corporate Energy and Sustainability Report examines global trends, barriers, and opportunities impacting corporate energy and carbon management programs. The report, based on a survey by GreenBiz Research, surveyed over 300 energy and sustainability professionals at companies with annual revenues of $500 million or more.

According to Schneider, companies striving for sustainability still struggle with funding and data utilization. Nonetheless, the majority of large corporations are pursuing innovative strategies and technology adoption, and have set sustainability goals that seek to shift awareness of the value of nature conservation and climate action.

“Business leaders are more aware than ever that they need to take ownership and make their role known in the changing energy landscape,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric. “Being merely a passive consumer is a disadvantage, both competitively and operationally.”

Therefore, he emphasized, “Regardless of regulations or mandates, companies must aggressively adopt strategies to reduce emissions, increase efficiency, and use energy in ways that benefit the environment and their bottom line.”


Development and progress
According to Schneider, many companies have recognized the business benefits of publicly committing to reducing energy, carbon, and waste. Consequently, they have identified organizational changes driven by government regulations or voluntarily.

About 60% of organizations surveyed said they are communicating their goals to customers, investors, and stakeholders, and another 9% are considering making their goals public.


New opportunities, new barriers
Schneider's research found that companies are exploring new approaches beyond traditional management methods. While energy efficiency initiatives still dominate, the move toward carbon removal and decentralization continues to drive increased interest and investment in renewable energy.

To address the carbon footprint of the electricity they purchase or consume, 52% of companies use renewable energy on-site, 40% have contracted for off-site renewable energy, and 34% are leveraging energy attribute certificates such as renewable energy credits or origin guarantees.

For companies seeking to implement these and other initiatives, funding continues to be a significant obstacle. However, a lack of capital is not a significant obstacle. Fifty-seven percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement that their department "has successfully secured funding for energy and sustainability initiatives" cited limited capital as the reason. Conversely, survey respondents who agreed with this statement cited proven return on investment (ROI) and executive leadership as the most important factors in securing funding. Only 10% of respondents cited available capital as the primary reason for program approval and funding.

Furthermore, data shortages are no longer recognized as a problem. However, incomplete data sources that are unreliable and inefficiently shared can limit ROI. Specifically, the most common obstacles hindering effective data use are unreliable or incomplete data (48%), inadequate collection tools (41%), and lack of internal expertise (40%). Only 22% of companies share all their energy and sustainability data across departments, 58% share only some of their data, and 21% share no data at all.

Ninety percent of companies that share data across all departments agree that they can access funding and are more likely to use a diverse technology portfolio.

“Information sharing and collaboration are critical to the success of our energy management and sustainability efforts,” said Bill Hoenigmann, global category manager at BD, one of the survey respondents. “We have a cross-functional team comprised of operations, procurement, and sustainability experts, while recognizing our shared goals and responsibility to deliver energy savings and track carbon reduction improvements.”

Schneider's "Corporate Energy and Sustainability State of the Art" report was developed to understand how large organizations purchase energy from the utility sector, develop and fund demand management, data utilization, corporate efficiency, and carbon reduction programs.

The findings for this report are derived from a web survey and telephone interviews conducted by Greenbiz Research. The survey involved 299 professionals, ranging from board members to individual contributors, who oversee procurement, operations, and sustainability. The companies surveyed represent seven industry sectors: commercial real estate, education, finance and banking, healthcare and life sciences, industrial and transportation, retail and hospitality, and technology.