Three visions for 2030 and beyond

We are the Global Partner of the 10^th World Climate Summit being held this December. It comes at a fragile time for our planet, with the use of fossil fuel remaining dominant despite the dire warnings of the havoc it is wreaking on the world’s climate – and thus the survival of our civilization as we know it.

At Capgemini, we believe there is an urgent need for radical reinvention of business models in order to stem the destructive impact of carbon emissions. In a new opinion paper Sustainable Business Revolution 2030 written to coincide with the Climate Change Summit, we set out three visions for 2030 and beyond built on reinvention and transformation. Of course, 2030 is the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) target date by which global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) must fall by about 45% from 2010 levels.

Our 2030 visions reflect the fact that electricity and heat production, transport, residential buildings, and commercial/public services are among the biggest carbon emitters globally. To that end, we have identified three ecosystem types that we believe will be part of the climate change solutions of the future:

• Energy
• Mobility
• Smart cities.

In energy, we envision a world in which traditional carbon-fueled utility models are a thing of the past. Instead, as renewable costs decline over the coming decade and real-time connected energy efficiency solutions enable more sobriety, the decarbonization of the sector will gather momentum. In 2030, energy companies will no longer be the sole providers of heat and power. Rather, they will be managing supply and demand dynamically, operating as energy management platform companies. They will be working within ecosystems of new market entrants, technology vendors, and other partners, including city authorities and consumers.

In mobility, we expect the widening scope of environmental legislation to be a primary driving force in the automotive sector’s approach to carbon emissions by 2030. Propelled by regulation and incentivization, the business imperative in the automotive sector to transform rapidly will result in organizations embracing new technologies, such as AI, blockchain and 5G. New partnership models will drive new uses cases, such as multi-modal transport and car-sharing, both of which offer the end consumer low-carbon, easy-to-access transport options.

Connected and sustainable cities are already beginning to take shape and, with two thirds of the world’s population currently living in cities, we expect more to be developed by 2030. They offer a means to use new and emerging technologies, as well as data, to respond to the environmental and social challenges that urban living gives rise to. In 2030, information about energy, air quality, and traffic flow will be collected via various internet of things (IoT) sensors and devices, including citizens’ smartphones. Urban authorities will be working in ecosystems with external partners, such as utilities companies and smart electric vehicle charging system operators.

The above gives you a small flavor of our new paper’s in-depth discussion on ecosystems and the need for radical reinvention. To read more and discover why we are urging organizations to pivot to a new, greener ecosystem model before it is too late, download Sustainable Business Revolution 2030.

Florent Andrillon

Expert in Strategy & Transformation

Florent started his career at Oil and Energy Firm before joining Capgemini Invent in 2005. He has worked in France and abroad with players in the Energy and Utilities sector: large companies, players wishing to enter this market or parapublic organizations. He has supported these organizations for 18 years with their strategic projects of energy transition, acceleration, and global transformation.
More recently, Florent has worked with clients willing to leverage digital technology to accelerate their energy transition projects, especially in the area of smart building, e-mobility and smart energy.
Florent graduated from EM Lyon in 2001.