By Kshitij Batra, senior vice president, international hub, power products at Schneider Electric
A UN Climate Change Report revealed that the world is on track to miss its 2050 net zero targets, with temperatures expected to reach 2.4C+ by 2100. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.
With 60% of energy currently lost or wasted, the costlier option for organisations is inaction. Freepik
Decarbonisation myth #2 – Decarbonisation is too complicated for a single organisation to address.
While some may feel overwhelmed by the scale of climate change and believe their individual actions have very little impact, governments are stepping up with regulations to ensure the responsibility doesn’t fall on a single individual or organisation.
For instance, South Africa’s new Climate Change Act (Act No. 22 of 2024) proclaimed on 17 March 2025, marks a significant step in the country’s efforts to address climate change. The Act establishes a legal framework for reducing GHG emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and supporting a just transition to a low-carbon economy. By setting out clear responsibilities for government, business, and civil society, including mandatory carbon budgets for major emitters and the integration of climate considerations into national and local planning, organisations operating in South Africa will soon be required to align with stricter climate regulations and demonstrate accountability for their environmental impact across their operations and value chains.
Global social and environmental changes are accelerating, and it has forced organisations to rethink who they are and guide what they do. Positive impact can only happen when we’re not a lonely leader. It is equally, if not more, important to foster a movement of global goals and local efforts to ensure nobody gets left behind. One small way we’re paving the way forward is offering digital solutions to our offering. Digitisation is the key to unlocking decarbonising, and by creating a single source of truth of an organisation’s energy and resource usage to make data-driven decisions and report on progress towards climate goals.
By aligning with our partners, suppliers, and customers to advance a shared vision for decarbonisation, we are committed to partnering for a sustainable future. Since 2018, our solutions have helped customers reduce or avoid 679M tonnes of CO2. Today, more than 1,000 top suppliers have joined our zero-carbon project to dramatically reduce their CO2 emissions.
Decarbonisation myth #3 – It is expensive to decarbonise.
The cheapest form of energy is the energy we’re not using. It is pointless paying for more energy than you need if organisations are not going to ensure it is being used efficiently.
With 60% of energy currently lost or wasted, the costlier option for organisations is inaction. Prioritising demand efficiency is the crucial first step, and deploying digital tools enables organisations to monitor, visualise and manage energy consumption. It’s been proven that by deploying a holistic building management system in a building or an energy management system in an industrial site, organisations can already see a 20% reduction in energy consumption! The recent need for some public and private sector buildings in South Africa to display their Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) is further motivation for South Africans to start managing their energy.
These software systems must communicate effectively with the electrical equipment and machinery essential to creating functional offices, manufacturing plants, or public spaces. This usually involves components like lighting, heating, circuit breakers, motor starters, and transformers. For older legacy systems without smart, connected devices, sensors can be retrofitted retrospectively to collect data. The time to act is now. This is not a problem we can leave for future generations to solve. We must take a direct hand to drive the necessary change.
Once these systems are set up, organisations can begin to optimise energy use and reduce energy waste with an estimated ROI within 1-2 years, and ongoing savings can be used to help fund further decarbonisation.
The time to act is now. This is not a problem we can leave for future generations to solve, as there may be no future. We must take a direct approach to drive the necessary change.
