Responding to the climate challenge

“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C”. In its new report published in 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has once again alerted humanity of the urgency to take action in order to maintain a chance of reaching the goal set in 2015 during the Paris Agreement, namely global warming limited to 2°C by the end of the century, and if possible to 1.5°C.

For international experts, the overall goal is still possible provided that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by at least 43% by 2030. The “zero net emission” of CO₂ will have to be exceeded before 2050. Climate neutrality by 2050 is the goal that many countries, as well as the European Union, have set for themselves.
Climate change is increasingly affecting the living conditions of the world’s populations. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become more than a challenge, it has become a necessity. This challenge, the greatest of our century, is at the heart of Rexel’s strategy. The Group acts with ambition, clarity, and a spirit of partnership.

ELECTRICITY AT THE HEART OF THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Electricity accounted for 19% of the world’s energy consumption in 2020, but its share is expected to rise to 42% by 2050. As a clean and safe energy source, it is an essential lever for supporting urbanization, improving living conditions, and sustainably transforming territories and industry.

Electricity is of course at the heart of the energy transition with the expected emergence of electric mobility and new renewable energies.

“The health crisis strengthened our conviction that the evolution toward a constantly more sustainable and thus more resilient business model will be essential to all long-term value creation goals. Energy management by itself can account for 40% of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions necessary to be in compliance with the Paris Climate Accords. And considering Rexel’s prominent position at the heart of the electricity value chain, it is our responsibility to take action and to mobilize our stakeholders to build a sustainable future together.”

Nathalie Wright
Group Chief Digital, IT and Sustainability Officer

Rexel committed to building the energy world of tomorrow

At the heart of the energy value chain, Rexel is at the forefront of the electrical sector, whose global carbon footprint is estimated at 600 million tons of CO₂. For nearly fifteen years, the Group has made the fight against climate change an integral part of its approach to responsibility, not only by taking action internally, but above all by driving a virtuous dynamic to accelerate the energy transition, involving its partners, customers, and the electrical sector in general, in its roadmap towards a low-carbon world. Now more than ever, Rexel is setting an example in two ways.

The Group’s climate strategy is based on two objectives for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with the Paris Agreement:
• reduce by 60% in absolute terms the GHG emissions related to energy consumption in its operations (scopes 1 and 2) by 2030, compared to 2016;
• reduce by 45% in absolute terms the GHG emissions related to the consumption of products sold per euro of sales (scope 3) by 2030, compared to 2016.

Rexel’s targets were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on two occasions, in 2018 and more recently in July 2022, thereby gaining recognition for the credibility of its targets and the trajectory the Group has set to achieve them.

Rexel leads the way in building the next energy world

Rexel’s climate strategy has been designed to produce lasting positive effects both in the Group’s internal activities and on the carbon footprint of its business partners and customers, both upstream and downstream.
The Rexel Group has decided to act on three climate levers:
1. By reducing its own carbon and environmental footprint;
2. By offering its customers products and solutions to accelerate the energy transition and adapt to climate change;
3. By encouraging all its stakeholders to become players in the low-carbon transition.
And to go even further, Rexel brings the fight against global warming to the heart of communities through the Rexel Foundation.

CLIMATE ACTION AT THE HEART OF REXEL’S OPERATIONS

Although the greenhouse gas emissions of its internal operations (scopes 1 and 2) represent only a tiny fraction (0.3%) of the total emissions of its value chain, Rexel has committed itself to three areas of internal action aimed at massively reducing the environmental footprint of the Group’s operations:
– deploying the most effective energy efficiency solutions at its sites;
– giving priority to energy from renewable sources;
– accelerating the digitization and modernization of its entire supply chain, for greater operational and environmental efficiency. Rexel is convinced that the digital revolution can accelerate the energy transition.

A low environmental impact product offering

Thanks to its role as a global distributor and the central position this gives it within the industry, Rexel supports all stakeholders in their efforts to reduce their environmental footprint. The Group plays a key role between suppliers and customers. Upstream, Rexel carries out in-depth work to source the best products from an energy and environmental point of view, by forging solid partnerships with manufacturers. These products, which are eco-designed and eco-efficient for construction, renovation, and maintenance, are increasingly present in the catalog. By promoting the most virtuous products, Rexel encourages suppliers and customers to make the sustainable choice for the environment.

Rexel at the forefront of product environmental data

Guiding customers towards low-impact products is a priority for Rexel, which has developed several innovative methods to measure the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle. It has developed Product Environmental Profiles, or PEPs, a series of environmental information now available for a growing number of products.

Cultivating a spirit of partnership in the industry

The climate emergency requires a collective response. Rexel is convinced that there can be no profound transition without a spirit of partnership and reciprocal commitment. The Group is therefore multiplying its constructive partnerships. It works to disseminate ESG best practices within the electrical sector and commits its partners to respecting the principles of its Responsible Supplier Charter. Rexel does not seek to coerce, but to inspire. The Group acts as a promoter of environmental innovations, as an advisor and influencer in all its partnerships.

“More and more data can be now gathered by the sensors installed in smart buildings. Artificial intelligence therefore has a major role to play in creating value by improving the efficiency of energy efficiency solutions in the long term. We want to develop and integrate more data models and algorithms to improve comfort, facilitate exploitation and improve the energy footprint of these buildings.”

Julien Neuschwander,
Innovation and Services Director, Rexel France

Services and solutions to encourage the energy transition

Thanks to the transversal expertise conferred by its privileged position at the heart of the electrical industry’s value chain, Rexel has built up a range of services and solutions enabling it to support its customers in the new markets of the energy transition. Electric mobility, networks, energy storage, intelligent buildings, industry 4.0, renewable energies, and self-consumption…The fields of application are numerous.

At the same time, the Group helps its customers to save energy by offering them energy audit tools and digital applications designed to facilitate the implementation of energy efficiency solutions.

Supporting the emergence of a circular economy

The fight against global warming requires us to rethink the way we consume resources. The future of the climate lies in the circular economy, which is now at the heart of Rexel’s development and values.

While only 17% of the 54 million tons of electrical and electronic equipment discarded each year worldwide are currently integrated into a recycling channel, Rexel has made waste reduction a priority. The Group is committed to the sustainable management of resources, both internally, by reducing consumption and sorting waste, and with regard to its partners and customers, through:
• recycling of electrical equipment, both in branches and at customers’ sites;
• recycling and reuse of other equipment and materials;
• limiting over-packaging.

In this area too, innovation plays a major role. In 2021, Rexel Canada accelerated its cable recovery and recycling program. Thanks to industrial equipment capable of separating materials, the subsidiary is effectively combating waste and fuelling new circular loops of material recovery.

“Corporate success is no longer defined by profitability alone; We have a responsibility to shift towards sustainable practices as a matter of good stewardship for both our planet and business alike. Over the past several years, Rexel Canada has been working towards offsetting the material waste from a robust trans Canadian wire and cable business. Our long-term vision was to re-introduce what was once considered ‘scrap’ back into our procurement cycle. Today, Rexel’s Canada’s recycling program provides our customer base, divisions, and suppliers with the tools to offset waste produced through our day-to-day operations. This reclaimed product is sent to the Nexans Canada’s Rod Mill in Montreal to begin its journey back into the manufacturing cycle, with finished produce being sold back to Rexel Canada. The Rexel and Nexans partnership stands alone as a fully-integrated Canadian partnership and a model of what corporate responsibly, and ingenuity, can accomplish when working towards common interests.”

Ed Wyzykowski
VP Human Resources – Rexel Canada

INNOVATION TO MEET THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE

Rexel is innovating to meet the climate challenge, both in its logistics and in its use of data. The Group is also investing in the new markets of the ecological and energy transition, from green mobility to smart buildings.

The fight against climate change also involves solidarity with the Rexel Foundation

There can be no energy transition without solidarity. Since 2013, the Rexel Foundation for a better energy future has been working to anchor energy efficiency at the heart of society. It is thus present throughout the world to help disadvantaged populations overcome fuel poverty.

In Roubaix, in the northern France, the Rexel Foundation is innovating in this respect with the “Collectif des Possibles”, an initiative that has created unprecedented ties between residents living in energy poverty and local authorities, entrepreneurs, associations, and any other local players willing to help. These new ties of solidarity have made it possible to carry out thermal renovation work that might not have taken place without them. At the heart of the project, the Rexel Foundation is a driving force, facilitating and bringing people together.

For Rexel, the actions carried out by the Foundation serve to reach populations that the Group’s usual economic activity does not allow it to reach. The Rexel Foundation disseminates knowledge about energy efficiency, promotes a solidarity-based approach to these issues, and of course, actively supports the fight against “energy sieves” in disadvantaged areas. Because the climate emergency is also a social one. In France alone, the number of “energy insecure people” is estimated at 12 million (Source: Barometer of the National Energy Mediator). By focusing on solidarity, the Rexel Foundation reminds us that a popular ecology, which leaves no one off the path to energy efficiency, is possible…and necessary.

Rexel’s action for the climate recognized

In addition to having its objectives validated by the SBTi, Rexel received an A- rating in the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) assessment on climate change in 2022. The result is all the more rewarding given that companies in its sector receive a C grade on average. This confirms Rexel’s leading position on climate issues at the heart of its sector.

Rexel was also awarded an A grade in the Supplier Engagement Rating in 2021.