Sustainability LIVE Dubai: Schneider Electric SVP Keynote

Farrukh Shad, Senior Vice President and Head of Sustainability Business (APMEA), delivered a keynote presentation at Sustainability LIVE Dubai 2025.

With a focus on practical action and proven results, Farrukh shared Schneider Electric’s journey to becoming the world’s most sustainable company in 2024. 

Farrukh explained how its integrated framework helps global clients accelerate their own sustainability transitions.

Setting the benchmark for sustainability leadership

Schneider Electric’s commitments to environmental progress are bold and measurable. Farrukh opened by detailing the firm’s clear carbon goals:

• Carbon neutral operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2025
• Net zero operations by 2030
• End-to-end carbon-neutral value chain by 2040
• Full Scope 1, 2 and 3 net zero by 2050

“We’re well on track,” said Farrukh, explaining that these ambitions are backed by rigorous KPIs across six core sustainability focus areas: climate, resources, trust, equality, generation and local empowerment.

Importantly, Schneider Electric isn’t just setting the pace internally. 

It also supports 60% of the Fortune 500 through its sustainability advisory arm, operating across more than 100 countries and working with more than 3,300 consultants globally. 

“We’re a practitioner and a partner,” Farrukh emphasised, “leading by example while helping others decarbonise.”

Strategy, data and decarbonisation: The three pillars

Schneider Electric’s approach for its clients is built around three pillars: strategise, digitise and decarbonise. This integrated framework allows the company to tailor support based on each client’s stage of maturity and sector.

1. Strategise – This begins with establishing an emissions baseline and designing a science-based roadmap. “We engage ecosystems, structure governance and communicate commitments,” said Farrukh. The advisory team remains brand-agnostic in this early stage to ensure objectivity.
   
   
2. Digitise – Powered by Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Resource Advisor platform, this phase focuses on monitoring resource use, identifying inefficiencies and reporting progress. “It’s a single source of truth with over 30 billion data points,” he explained. The platform supports compliance, benchmarking and performance tracking across sectors from real estate to banking.
   
   
3. Decarbonise – With strategic direction and data visibility in place, Schneider Electric delivers targeted decarbonisation. This includes energy audits, operational electrification, renewable energy sourcing and power purchase agreements. Farrukh noted, “We reduce energy use, broker renewable deals and help clients electrify operations.”

Scaling impact through supply chain decarbonisation

A key differentiator in Schneider Electric’s sustainability leadership is its extensive supply chain engagement. 

“95% of our emissions are in Scope 3,” Farrukh said, describing their internal Zero Carbon Project. 

The initiative targets the company’s top 1,000 suppliers, who generate 70% of upstream emissions and equips them with training, tools and emissions tracking capabilities.

This supplier-first model is now being replicated in sectors across the globe. These projects combine education, incentives and emissions tracking to empower suppliers, even at early stages of the sustainability journey. 

“We build programmes for entire sectors and help suppliers decarbonise collaboratively,” he said.

Finding the right tools for the right challenges

In the Q&A, Farrukh addressed the importance of tailored solutions. 

“The right tool depends on the pain point,” he said. “Most companies don’t even know the one or two main blockers they face. We begin with identifying that need, then match it with the right technology.”

Rather than pushing products, Schneider Electric starts with diagnostics, only then introducing tools like EcoStruxure or sector-specific frameworks. 

“Our goal is to deliver results, not just software,” Farrukh added.

Schneider Electric’s success, as Farrukh outlined, lies in combining its own journey with advisory expertise. 

With a structured, scalable and flexible model, the company not only leads by example but also paves the way for others to follow. 

As the sustainability transition picks up pace across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, this keynote made clear: the path to net zero isn’t just a vision – it’s a roadmap, already in motion.

Essential diary dates for 2025

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• Sustainability LIVE London | 9-10 September 
• The Global Sustainability & ESG Awards | 10 September 
• Sustainability LIVE: Climate Week NYC | 22 September
• Sustainability LIVE: COP 30 Brazil | 11 November

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