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One ambition: to improve the well-being of all The Group and its environment

In the private sector, there are a number of levers for action though, the primary trigger for renovation work is to increase to reduce the environmental footprint: in Europe, the building the comfort of the home. Under these conditions, combining sector alone accounts for 40% of final energy consumption residential comfort and energy efficiency is a major lever for and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions (1) . Globally, it action to combat climate change.

represents nearly one-third of direct greenhouse gas emissions, consumes 40% of global resources and is responsible for 40% of waste production. Building energy consumption could double or even triple by 2050 (2) if nothing is done. However, the full use of best practices in the design, construction and operation of buildings could reduce this increase to just 10% (3) of current energy consumption. Building energy efficiency therefore presents many opportunities to address global warming, although public opinion must continue to be made aware of this. Today,

Furthermore, with increasing frequency, public policies are adopting a life cycle approach, which considers the environmental impact of the building as a whole, from the extraction of raw materials to demolition and recycling. The reuse of materials generates additional economic growth and limits resource usage and emissions. By expanding this kind of approach, greater economic affluence can be decoupled from the use of resources.

Economic output Resource use No decoupling RESOURCE USE GROWS AT LEAST AS RAPIDLY AS ECONOMIC OUTPUT.

Absolute decoupling RESOURCE USE DECLINES WHILE ECONOMIC OUTPUT GROWS.

Relative decoupling RESOURCE USE GROWS LESS RAPIDLY THAN ECONOMIC OUTPUT.

Time

Source: European Environment Agency. (4)

The challenge of the digital transformation 1.4 Digital technology is redefining trade, with a very high annual growth rate for e-commerce throughout the world since the early 2000s. China, which became the world’s largest market for B2C online sales in 2015, is catching up quickly in the B2B segment (5) . The low cost of investment to launch an online commerce platform has reduced barriers to entry, while asymmetry of information between sellers and customers is falling. Companies must now be closer to their end customers to avoid new intermediations. For differentiation, it is no longer just the company’s product that matters, but the services that go along with it. Digital technology is reshaping the competitive balance and the way that businesses interact with their stakeholders (customers, staff and suppliers).

Digital technology is also revolutionizing the way that factories are organized and is producing a major, gradual change in production methods, by providing real-time access to a wealth of information on industrial facilities that are now interconnected and enabling extensive analysis of these data. Progress can thus be seen on two fronts: on the one hand, in the increase in productivity that results from reductions in stock, breakdowns, lost time and scrap material and on the other, in improved flexibility of production processes. Industry 4.0 opens the doors to mass customization, which relies in particular on locating assets as close as possible to end customers.

Energy Union Package: A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change policy, European Commission (1) Communication, 2015. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, contribution from Working Group III of the Fifth IPCC Assessment report (AR5), 2014. (2) The European Environment: State and outlook 2015 – Synthesis report, European Environment Agency. (3) The European Environment: State and outlook 2015 – Synthesis report, European Environment Agency. (4) Unlocking the Potential of e-commerce for Developing Countries, 2015 Information Economy report, United Nations Conference on Trade and (5) Development (UNCTAD), 2015.

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