Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, today outlines its presence at COP31, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, taking place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
Schneider Electric’s COP31 agenda will focus on three priorities: developing the infrastructure required for electrification; applying energy and industrial intelligence to improve sustainability and business performance; and strengthening the skills, energy access and local partnerships needed to ensure that progress is widely shared.
“Electrification is entering a decisive phase. The technologies are available, but delivering progress at scale requires us to address infrastructure, digital intelligence, skills and financing together,” said Esther Finidori, chief sustainability officer, Schneider Electric. “COP31 must help move electrification from ambition to implementation, accelerating clean power and modern grids while making better use of the infrastructure already in place. By connecting energy and operational intelligence with local capabilities and partnerships, we can strengthen competitiveness and resilience while delivering measurable benefits for businesses and communities.”
“Electrification is entering a decisive phase. The technologies are available, but delivering progress at scale requires us to address infrastructure, digital intelligence, skills and financing together,” said Esther Finidori, chief sustainability officer, Schneider Electric. “COP31 must help move electrification from ambition to implementation, accelerating clean power and modern grids while making better use of the infrastructure already in place. By connecting energy and operational intelligence with local capabilities and partnerships, we can strengthen competitiveness and resilience while delivering measurable benefits for businesses and communities.”
Building the infrastructure for electrification
At COP31, Schneider Electric will support the Presidency’s ambition to increase electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035. The Company will highlight the need for clean power generation, modern grids, distributed energy resources, storage, demand flexibility and energy efficiency to advance together. Scaling electrification across industry, buildings and transport will require making better use of existing infrastructure and investing in new capacity.
New research from the Schneider Electric Research Institute “System Costs of Electricity Under High DER Penetration: A New Baseline for the 21st Century Economy” reinforces the importance of this system-wide approach. Based on 40,500 scenarios, the research finds that high penetration of rooftop solar and batteries could bring total electricity-system costs below today's levels when combined with growing electricity demand. At current world-average installed costs outside the US, the lowest modelled system cost is 10% below the benchmark, reaching 40% below under projected 2030s costs.
Advancing Energy Tech and Industrial Intelligence
Infrastructure alone is not enough. Schneider Electric will underline how energy and industrial intelligence can help organizations make better use of energy and existing assets. EcoStruxure, with AVEVA technology, connects energy and operational data to improve productivity, reduce CO₂ emissions and strengthen competitiveness and resilience.
At COP31, Schneider Electric will demonstrate how digitalization, automation and AI can help optimize energy use and operations across buildings, industry, data centers and power grids, unlocking greater efficiency and resilience as electrification accelerates.
Türkiye’s hosting of COP31 provides an important opportunity to bring global experience together with local needs. For businesses, electrification can mean lower emissions, more efficient energy use and stronger competitiveness. Delivering those benefits takes investment in infrastructure and in the people who will put new technologies to work. That is where we want to focus our conversations with partners at COP31.
Powering progress for all through future skills, energy access and local partnerships
The deployment of electrification and digital technologies ultimately depends on people with the capabilities to install, operate and maintain them.
Schneider Electric’s agenda will therefore address technical education, workforce development and local implementation capacity alongside access to sustainable electricity and financing. The company will work with governments, businesses, educational institutions, civil society and local partners to explore how technology deployment can be supported by the skills and institutional capabilities required on the ground.
Schneider Electric supports this approach through Impact 2030, its sustainability roadmap launched in 2026. As of Q3 2026, the company had reduced Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions from its own operations by 83% compared with 2017. Its solutions had helped customers save and avoid a cumulative 943 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions since 2018. The company had also helped equip 1.5 million young people with energy management and sustainability skills since 2009.
Schneider Electric at COP31
Hosted events on the French Pavillion:
- Electrification, Competitiveness & Energy Sovereignty, November 10, 10:30 – 12:30 UTC+3
- Grid Flexibility & Financing Electrification, November 10, 14:00 – 15:30 UTC+3
- Scaling Renewable Energy Investments for an Inclusive Transition, November 10, 16:00 – 17:30 UTC+3
- Powering Tomorrow Together: A Circular Mentorship Café on Skills, Belonging & the Energy Transition, (Children & Youth Pavillion), 17:00 – 17:45 UTC+3
- The Case for Data Center Efficiency, November 12, 11:30-13:00 UTC+3
- Efficiency First: How Regulation, Finance & Measured Performance Decarbonize Buildings Faster, November 12, 14:30-16:30 UTC+3
- A Just Transition in Action: Aligning Climate, Development, Jobs & Investments, November 13, 9:30 – 11:00 UTC+3
- Climate Adaptation, Resilience & Sustainable Finance, November 13, 16:30 – 18:00 UTC+3
Press contact: mediarelations@se.com
