--- title: The New Way of Talking About Decarbonization description: Climate action is all about resilience now. “Electrification has left the station," says Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/schneider-electric-decarbonization-resilience-iran-war/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-20T21:57:06.307Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-13T06:52:26.282Z article:section: Climate og:title: The New Way of Talking About Decarbonization Has Nothing To Do With Climate Action og:description: “Electrification has left the station," says Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/schneider-electric-decarbonization-resilience-iran-war/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae58e866ed95e69a/69bdaa0f7c67e1935056c7e6/olivier_blum_schneider_electric.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: olivier blum schneider electric.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The New Way of Talking About Decarbonization Has Nothing To Do With Climate Action twitter:description: “Electrification has left the station," says Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae58e866ed95e69a/69bdaa0f7c67e1935056c7e6/olivier_blum_schneider_electric.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The New Way of Talking About Decarbonization Has Nothing To Do With Climate Action  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2026 9:57 PM UTC  Olivier Blum, chief executive officer of Schneider Electric SE, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Olivier Blum, chief executive officer of Schneider Electric SE, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2026 9:57 PM UTC Energy strategy is increasingly about resilience as much as [decarbonization](https://time.com/7341102/2025-climate-action-progress/). And tailoring your strategy to the region you’re operating in is essential. That’s the message from Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum. It was true when I spoke with him at the end of February—and the [war in Iran](https://time.com/7382998/iran-war-global-energy-transition/) has only solidified the thesis. “Whether sustainability \[or\] net zero will be on the agenda or not,” he told me, “electrification has left the station.” In Blum’s telling, electrification and the broader evolution in energy that we often describe as the energy transition is no longer just a [climate](https://time.com/section/climate/) project, and perhaps not even primarily one. It’s a remarkable turnaround. Executives are now justifying investments that would have been labeled sustainability using a completely different vocabulary: resilience, security, localization, [efficiency](https://time.com/7380175/climate-sustainability-company-goals-2026/), and control. Blum has an incentive to make this case. Schneider Electric makes the equipment, both hardware and software, that homes, buildings, data centers, and infrastructure use to run their energy systems. More electrification across the economy means greater potential sales. But the logic behind the argument is undeniable. As the conflict in the Middle East disrupts global energy markets, namely the trade in oil and gas, electrification offers a more localized and inherently more secure approach to powering the economy. And a range of energy technology solutions—from AI to advances in battery storage—help make electrification more possible today. Electrification is just one part of the shifting puzzle. Schneider employs more than 160,000 people in over 100 countries, and as Blum explained, the company has embraced a strategy rooted in the regions where it operates rather than offering mandates from France, where it was founded. The overarching strategy is shaped at a global level, but each region has its own functions, from research and development to sales. Critically, the company is focused on creating [regional supply chains](https://time.com/7382998/iran-war-global-energy-transition/) to ensure resilience. “The world will be more and more divided, and there is no way a global company in the future can be successful if it’s only global and if all decisions are made in one place.” Indeed, Blum spoke to me from Dubai, where he is based. But he insisted to me that Dubai is not the company’s headquarters. “There is no global headquarters,” he said. “The CEO is located in Dubai. My CFO is in Paris. My CHRO, for instance, is in China.” Blum himself previously served as the company’s chief sustainability officer before being elevated to run the entire company. It was a natural progression. In recent years, the company has used the promise of greater efficiency and lower emissions to sell its products—and entice shareholders. Today, Blum says he is still committed to the same end goals but not so much to the sustainability lingo. “In the future, we might not call it sustainability,” he says. “The word itself is very confusing, but it's about being a responsible company." Reframing sustainability is a trend happening around the world—and particularly in the U.S. It’s perhaps a bit ironic that it’s happening as many of the drivers of sustainability, from efficiency to electrification, have now become inevitable. _To get this story in your inbox, subscribe to the TIME CO2 Leadership Report newsletter_ [here](https://www.time.com/co2-newsletter)_._ _This story is supported by a partnership with_ [Outrider Foundation](https://outrider.org/) _and Journalism Funding Partners. 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