Climate change & COVID-19: double punishment for industry

Industry in general has been particularly affected over the last two years.

Climate change and COVID-19 have impacted the whole of Europe and the global economy. Multi-sourcing, customisation of customer needs and optimisation of market targeting have become more of a reality than ever before.

This context has forced companies to become more agile and resilient but they still need to continue to improve their productivity and quality level.

4 possible and complementary actions exist to overcome these difficulties:

• Decarbonise (without forgetting the circular economy especially as we are running towards increased metal ratification, the extension of the life cycle of equipment through predictive maintenance, and the energy efficiency aspect)
• Modernise (intelligently in an eco-responsible way). Modernisation can also concern existing equipment, without forgetting, in all cases, operability.
• Innovate (without forgetting to take the time necessary to reflect on the safety aspect through collective intelligence and thus anticipate if failures are observed during deployment. Above all, do not equate innovation with haste and focus instead on efficiency)

Innovation is an essential point. There is a real effort in some countries and we need to follow suit in Europe.

• (Re)locate and rethink territories more intelligently

The competitiveness of territories will depend on the level of taxation and standards, although some standards remain essential. We are all focused on those related to the carbon tax, but we must not neglect those related to the security aspect. Rethinking our infrastructure in the light of climate change, our bridges/tunnels… (dilapidation), our buildings, our soil (landslides) ….

We are currently experiencing natural disasters that we are not able to control, which result in significant economic fallout, completely devastated businesses, destroyed territories and victims. The aim is to work together to avoid further suffering and to avoid by learning from what has happened.

Working together and complementarity from a local or global point of view is essential.

The goal is the same for all of us: to preserve the economy and above all our planet for future generations.