APC 2002 Annual Report Download - page 48

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7 - Sustainable Development
Sustainable development – at the core of our strategy
2002 marked Schneider Electric’s commitment to sustainable
development, including development of the “Principles of
Responsibility”, listing on the ASPI, Dow Jones Sustainability
World and Stoxx Europe indexes, creation of a dedicated
department, etc.
The most significant of these commitments was the integration
of sustainable development as one of the six challenges in the
New Electric World 2004 company program.
There were two main reasons for this strategic decision:
• Our vision to “Give the best of the New Electric World.”
We can’t give the “best” if we aren’t concerned about the
environment, the communities we serve and the need to
provide them with quality products that are safe and clean.
We can’t give everyone the best if we don’t get mobilized
to research and discover how electricity can contribute
to development.
The acquisition and growth of Conlog, a leader in pre-
payment chips, is an example.
• The second reason is the great motivational source that
shared values represent for company employees.
Among these values, responsibility is a key value.
Moving towards more responsible practices
a. Roots
Quality and social responsibility are two values deeply rooted
in the history of the brands that make up Schneider Electric.
Examples include Telemecanique’s pioneering policy of
employee profit sharing and Merlin Gerin’s strong involvement
with youth.
Major recent steps include:
- 1994 : : the first management charter was developed.
Primarily intended for company managers, this document
set out the management rules used to guide decisions and
actions.
- 1995 : : the environmental policy was defined. The goal was
to get all employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders to
subscribe to this policy by integrating environmental protection
in company management. This policy emphasized four priority
focus areas: reduce consumption of natural resources, control
electrical consumption, implement environmental management
and develop an eco-design initiative.
- 1998 : : the Schneider Electric Youth Opportunities
Foundation was created under the aegis of Fondation
de France with the mission of promoting young people’s
success by:
- providing assistance to associations that support
disadvantaged youth,
- sponsoring young business entrepreneurs, and
- supporting general interest causes.
b. A continuous improvement approach
Sustainable development is an incentive and an opportunity
to make and clarify all decisions, to audit general policy
implementations in each sphere, and to pay attention
to practices in order to enhance avenues for action.
Our sustainable development policy is based on a structured
approach that aims to:
1 - Respect regulatory obligations
This means making sure that Schneider Electric respects,
in each country where it has operations, the social and
environmental regulations enacted by the country.
2 - Select an environmentally and socially conscious
management
The indicators discussed below provide a good example of
this initiative, which is in the process of being implemented.
3 - Have its core business activity contribute
to sustainable development
So that Schneider Electric is an active player in:
- limiting energy consumption,
- choosing electrical distribution that is safe and increasingly
comfortable,
- meeting the challenge to provide electricity to people that still
don’t have access to it today.
For Schneider Electric, operating in such a manner reflects the
Company’s willingness and deliberate choice to be anticipatory
in its approach.