Tackling today’s toughest energy challenges at CERAWeek

Sustainability is at a critical and exciting juncture, traversing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) interests. Ambitious goals were set during COP26, with organizations around the world accelerating efforts to meet emissions targets, innovate and collaborate for the betterment of our collective futures. 80 countries agreed to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, but for plans like these to become a reality, sustainability needs to be embedded within the framework of every organization and powered by digital transformation.

Achievement hinges on the ingenuity of the players. By bringing our ecosystem of partners together with today’s technological advancements, I’m confident we at Accenture can help our clients record, report, and reduce emissions — discovering breakthroughs, making sustainable in-roads, and helping enable our clients to meet the sustainability targets of tomorrow.

Environmental commitment is nothing new to us and I’m proud to say that both Microsoft and Accenture walk the sustainability walk. Microsoft — now carbon neutral — set a goal to become carbon negative by 2030 and has committed to powering its Azure Cloud with renewable energy by 2025. Alongside Microsoft, Accenture’s own Sustainability Promise shares our commitment to delivering 360-degree value to all stakeholders by embedding sustainability into everything we do.

Accenture and Avanade have already been collaborating with Microsoft to help our employees and clients with their biggest sustainability challenges. We are founding members of the Green Software Foundation and have committed to skilling our employees in green software development practices. So far, Accenture has trained more than 30,000 people! In addition, Accenture and Microsoft are providing hands-on support and technologies to entrepreneurs and start-ups throughout India, Asia, and Europe, helping them scale social impact and sustainability.

Our technology, expertise, commitment, and current strides show that we have the power to help develop joint solutions that can be truly unique, helping create sustainable impact and business value.

And we’re just getting started

There’s a clear push to meet sustainability targets, as we collectively shift from a “why” mindset towards a “how”, with AI, data, and cloud-based platforms making it all possible. And through this cooperation with Microsoft, I’m thrilled to see us doubling down in Energy and Utilities. An exponential use of technology will be required to help enable energy transformation, but we must ensure it does not come with a heavy carbon emissions footprint.

The Energy industry is entering a new phase of transition acceleration. Meeting strong emissions targets globally will require new ways of thinking and innovation — and we’re here to help clients with the decarbonization challenges ahead. Here are a couple of key examples:

• Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft teamed up with Duke Energy to develop a methane emissions monitoring platform to detect leaks in natural gas distribution systems. The Azure-based platform supports Duke Energy’s drive toward net-zero methane emissions in its natural gas business by 2030.
• SSE Renewables, a leading producer and operator of renewable energy in the UK and Ireland, collaborated with Avanade, and Microsoft to discover new technology solutions, driving sustainability and culture change. By launching a new digital ventures team, SEE Renewables increased safety and workplace experience, improved insights and monitoring efficiency, and recovered lost hydro catchment revenue.

We’re helping companies like Duke Energy and SSE Renewables make net-zero carbon emissions a reality by improving their measurement, analytics, and performance reporting. Through “Green by Design” technologies, like the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, we can help organizations track their carbon footprint across the entire operation and improve visibility and transparency throughout the value chain.

Our ultimate goal? To support energy organizations in taking ownership and stewardship of sustainability. With a focus on helping measure, reduce, or remove carbon emissions, and optimize resources with the help of sustainable cloud technology, I’m confident we can meet that requirement together.

CERAWeek for the win

I believe our success could be based on international discourse, awareness, and joint commitment. That’s why I’m so looking forward to participating in CERAWeek.

Happening in person this year, CERAWeek is focused on Energy, Climate, and Innovation, bringing together policymakers and global leaders (like our own Julie Sweet) to share learnings and experiences, build relationships, and collaborate on today’s toughest energy challenges.

During CERAWeek, I’m joining Microsoft as a strategic guest within their Agora House and focusing on three key topics: utilities, oil and gas, and carbon and methane emissions. I’m gearing up to help clients within the oil and gas industry accelerate their energy transition by helping optimize production, reduce methane emissions and drive down unwanted carbon emissions. The key to unlocking sustainable impact for these industries is helping them do more with the data they already have, providing accurate and real-time analysis of their carbon footprints and using those to help drive up operational efficiency. I can’t wait to dig in, learn, and dialogue together.

It’s my team’s ambition to help connect and reimagine value chains across industries to amplify sustainability impact. Accenture and Avanade have the specialist insights required to help organizations make good on their sustainability promises and drive maximum value from Microsoft technologies, charting a new path for progress and development — one that leaves a positive environmental legacy.

Stay tuned for my recap of CERAWeek and stay up to date on all Accenture-related event activities by following us on LinkedIn and Twitter.