The goal is to enable savings and efficiency and to make energy available to a much larger number of people in a much shorter time.
„As much as 72% of Schneider Electric’s revenue is green, including all technologies that can be developed to facilitate energy efficiency and reduce emissions“, says Ksenija Karić, General Manager of Schneider Electric for Serbia and Montenegro, adding that thanks to solutions that connect renewable energy and digitalization, we can optimize business and take control of the future.
Ms Karić reminds us that the global goal is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels and to reach zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. She adds: “To reach that goal, this decade alone, i.e. by 2030, the level of emitted carbon dioxide should be reduced by between 30% and 50%. Of course, the emissions of other greenhouse gases must also be significantly reduced.”
To get to that level, the economy needs to experience fast modernization, while relying on innovations and changes of behaviour. “The goal is to enable savings and efficiency and to make energy available to a much larger number of people in a much shorter time. Technology is not a challenge for us since it is already present. The challenge is to change people’s habits,” Ms Karić adds.
The General Manager of Schneider Serbia also underlines that would be possible only if we shifted the focus from “infrastructure” to “consumer.” She also points out the need to modernize buildings, transport, industrial facilities and machinery, but also highlights the need to expand and strengthen existing electricity infrastructure, especially networks. Companies need to embrace universal automation, sustainable efficiency and digitalization to foster global economic recovery, and improve manufacturing and processing industries.
Schneider Electric – the most sustainable company in the world
In early 2021, the company was declared the most sustainable in the world by Corporate Knights. The company plans to become carbon-neutral by 2025 and to halve the greenhouse gas emissions of its 100 largest suppliers in the same period, with the help of the solutions it has been developing.
“We are just trying to be a role model in the way we execute our operations, so we are part of the solution for many of our clients,” says Ms Karić and adds: “With the EcoStruxure platform, clients can improve their business, create opportunities for business innovation and achieve savings, which can go up to 80 percent.”
The platform is based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology and serves as a basis for managing, running, automating and optimizing systems locally or in the cloud. It combines all three levels – data collection, control and analytics – and helps companies to transform in terms of higher speed, waste reduction and energy efficiency.
20 years of business in Serbia
Next year, one of the largest French companies marks 20 years of business in Serbia. “During that time, Schneider Electric has developed a network of partners that today consists of over 100 domestic companies. We are especially proud of our licensed partners who produce equipment following Schneider Electric technologies,” says Ksenija Karić, and adds the company will remain committed to sustainability, but also to socially responsible business. She reminds us that Schneider was recently declared the best socially responsible company of the year by the Serbian Association of Managers.
“Socially responsible business and investing in community development are segments that we have approached with great care since the very beginning of the company’s business in Serbia. This award is a validation that, in synergy with people from our environment, we can create a much better place for life and work. We just need to find the right and most sustainable way to do that,” Ms Karić concluded.