Climate and environment numbers and stats can be overwhelming. 2024 was the hottest year on record, and critically, the first to surpass the threshold of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. Without greater and faster climate action, that could climb to 2.9ºC as per COP28 Global Stocktake. At the same time, global circularity is in decline, dropping 21% from 2018 to 2023.
Climate journalist David Wallace-Wells recently wrote: “What are you supposed to do with numbers like these [...] when new temperature records are set almost by the month?”. The answer is to keep looking at the hard facts, getting the right quality data to drive change. But currently, we’re falling short. Data is abundant yet confusing. We need to work on having just enough data that helps moving where it matters.
Better and more transparent environmental data is needed to manage our impact on the world, for example: through the products we design, companies we operate, and choices we make. Data reveals, with hard figures and stats, the transformations and innovations necessary for progress. In addition, it lays the basis for trust and action; consumers can make informed environmental decisions, and we can all better understand whether we’re on the right path, making corrections as needed.
But to trust environmental data, we need frameworks and standards ensuring its integrity and comparability. How can one know if a product has a better environmental footprint is there is no common scale to measure and compare? In the European Union (EU), environmental transparency has been a cornerstone of climate and environment policy. With the Green Claims Directive, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), and the Digital Product Passport, the EU has shown leadership in shaping the future of sustainable business practices. These address greenwashing, empowering consumers, designing more sustainable products, and fostering a culture of accountability. Ultimately, it’s about powering choices thanks to better, clearer, and more reliable data.
The EU Green Claims Directive sets a vision Schneider is fully aligned with. Inspired by the direction set, we have decided to revamp our environmental data practices and work with our wider ecosystem to create the changes needed to go further.
Historically, since 2008, we provided environmental information through a proprietary labelling system (“Green Premium”). Over time, we recognized the need for a more dynamic approach. We had to better understand our impact on environment, respond to higher expectations from customers, and anticipate the evolving regulatory landscape. That’s why, in 2024, we developed the Environmental Data Program, bringing more clarity to the environmental attributes of our products.
The program represents a move beyond traditional labels to a broader data-driven framework. It provides up to 25 environmental data points per product, covering key areas such as environmental footprint, materials, substances, energy efficiency, lifetime extension, repackaging, and remanufacturing. Currently, 90,000 Schneider Electric products have at least 14 environmental attributes available (representing 60% of our 2024 product turnover), while 180,000 products have a minimum of 10 environmental attributes (88% of our 2024 product turnover). The program will continue to expand to include more products and environmental attributes across our portfolio.
The point of this level of detail is to empower businesses and consumers alike to make more informed choices. By providing consistent, more transparent, and easily accessible environmental data, we aim to set new benchmarks for environmental data disclosure and product sustainability. This lets customers and partners better understand, measure, report, and ultimately reduce their environmental footprint.
However, more granularity makes it more intricate to compare, and we risk incomplete or misleading data. This is why we also advocate for greater standardization of environmental data – which would simplify reporting, improve decision-making, and ensure consistency and comparability within and across industries.
Without standardisation and comparability, data cannot drive transformation at systemic level. Schneider Electric is actively seeking to partner with other industry players and the entire ecosystem to drive this important effort forward.
While current EU efforts focus mostly on business-to-consumer interactions, we believe transparency can and should extend to business-to-business operations. At Schneider Electric, we are applying this level of transparency across the board. It aligns with our values of accountability and transparency across everything we do, as well as our goal to better serve customers. This step will encourage the wider application of policy goals. We hope to see this mirrored across the entire industry, impacting entire supply chains and accelerating the transition to net zero.
It’s our belief that sustainability is a shared responsibility, requiring consistent, reliable, and comparable information at all levels of the economic ecosystem. This will allow us to identify what works and what doesn’t, and the challenges to be addressed — at policy, methodology, and practice level — to enhance transparency even further.
The next five years will be defined by strategies and actions that can drive deep decarbonization and competitiveness in Europe. Environmental data transparency can advance both, ensuring that economic growth aligns with sustainability goals. In the near future, environmental data is likely to be foundational for the Clean Industrial Deal, as well the Digital Product Passport.
Policy makers can help make environmental data both impactful and actionable, by setting clear definitions, common methodologies, and new standards for improved clarity, usability, and comparability. This will help make sure progress can be clearly shared, understood and compared, and that we have the fundamental quality data to continue to drive change and make the needed investments in critical areas.
By putting these numbers and stats to work, we create opportunities to benefit consumers, businesses, and the planet simultaneously.
On our end, Schneider Electric will continue rolling out the Environmental Data Program, constantly improving transparency and granularity. We’ll use the data to communicate more clearly and accelerate industry-wide decarbonization and innovation, while helping our customers and ecosystem do the same. And we will continue to use our voice to support the system changes required to advance progress.
There has never been a better time to turn data into action.
