Schneider Electric's Philippe Diez On Net Zero, The UAE, And COP26

Is there a business function which has been more affected by digitization than marketing? Even before the pandemic, marketing was already adapting. On this episode we spoke with Tommy Leong, SVP Global Marketing for International Operations at Schneider Electric, to ask him what has changed and what has stayed the same. Listen in to learn more about how Tommy defines great marketing, and what's in store for marketers.

We have the world's largest energy event next week happening in Abu Dhabi. There's more pressure than ever on the energy sector, given the push to reduce carbon emissions. And yet the world is seemingly facing an energy shortage right now. We speak with The National's Jennifer Gnana about these issues, and ask where we do go from here when it comes to the issue of energy?

With Gulfood Manufacturing next week, we turned to Schneider Electric's Segment President for Consumer Packaged Goods Mike Jamieson to talk us through how leading food and beverage brands are using technology to become more sustainable, more productive and more efficient. Hear what he has to say, and meet Mike at Gulfood Manufacturing next week at the Dubai World Trade Center.

From the first net zero pledges by hydrocarbon economies to an electric vehicle push in Egypt and the upcoming COP26 summit in the UK, everyone is talking about sustainability and climate change. We turned to Ahmed Samir Elbermbali, the Managing Director of the MENA Clean Energy Business Council, to spell out what all this means. Have a listen, and let us know what you're excited about when it comes to MENA's energy transition.

This week is all about Gitex, and we had Michel Arres, VP of IT Channel and Alliances at Schneider Electric, visiting the region. We asked him about what the pandemic has done to the data center market, and what this means for the technology channel in the Middle East. His answer is simple - technology companies must skill up, go digital, and focus on software and services. Listen to his interview today.

Increasingly investors are looking to technology companies that are looking to address sustainability issues. We spoke with Hamood Al Fanna of Oman's IDO Investments to explain what drives him on these issues and why they should matter to investors in the region. Have a listen to this week's podcast.

The UAE has come out with an ambitious target to get to net zero by 2050. We speak with Philippe Diez, Schneider Electric's VP EMEA for Energy and Sustainability Services, to ask what is net zero all about, what the UAE's pledge will lead to in terms of actions for both the government and business, and why climate change must be tackled by everyone. Have a listen in to the latest podcast.

This week will be witness to the launch of the "greatest show on Earth", with the opening event for Expo 2020. The event is set to showcase how we can all live more sustainably. We spoke with one person who has lived Expo 2020 for the past couple of years, Middle East Economic Digest's Special Projects Editor Mehak Srivastava on what we can all learn from Expo 2020, and why its greatest legacy may be on how we can all reduce our ecological footprint.

The region made headlines earlier this month with the election of the UAE's Razan Al Mubarak as President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one of the world’s largest and best-known conservation institutions. Biodiversity and its impact on humanity is increasingly being talked about, both by governments and businesses. We spoke to Tanzeed Alam of Earth Matters Consulting about biodiversity and why we should pay attention to an issue which impacts all of us much more that we realize. Have a listen to this week's podcast.

The past week has been frenetic for the Gulf's Construction sector, partly thanks to the return of The Big 5 trade show. We asked Anup Oommen, MEP Middle East's editor, to come onto the podcast to talk about the show, about the growth of issues such as sustainability and technology, and how the industry is faring as we head into 2022.