Making Changes For A More Sustainable Future

Michael Train of Emerson Electric Co. talks about Sustainability Framework of “Greening Of, Greening By, and Greening With” Emerson, and sustainable opportunities in the ASEAN region.

Michael Train, Emerson’s first chief sustainability officer, spoke about the current challenges and how the company enable customer improvements through Emerson’s solutions and partnerships.

Photo: Michael Train, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Emerson. Photo credit: Emerson Electric Co.

Why has Emerson pivoted towards sustainability?

Michael Train (MT): Emerson has been focused on sustainability – within our own operations and in support of our customers – for quite some time. Our automation products, software, and expertise are frequently utilized by customers across a range of industries to achieve their sustainability objectives in operational performance, reliability, energy efficiency, and emissions management. We have certainly seen the focus on Environmental Sustainability increase in the past few years as companies and stakeholders have expressed their decarbonization goals and are evaluating novel solutions to be utilized going forward given energy system transition, digital transformation, and the world’s focus on becoming net zero by 2050.

What are your immediate priorities for this newly created position?

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MT: It is a tremendous honor to serve as Emerson’s first Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). While we have been focused on environmental sustainability for a while, the time was right for a dedicated focus on sustainability in the company and with this role I am able to apply my 30 years of experience leading global businesses at Emerson to make a real impact.

We have developed our Sustainability Framework of “Greening Of, Greening By, and Greening With” Emerson. Greening “Of” Emerson is focused on our own responsibility to build sustainability into our own facilities and processes going forward. We are concentrating on energy efficiency, sourcing more renewable forms of energy, and engaging our supply chain and logistics partners in more sustainable practices.

Greening “By” Emerson is how we collaborate with our customers to bring Emerson’s broad portfolio to deliver measurable impact in our customers’ operations. We are privileged to work across several industries and use our sensing, compression, final control, systems, software, and service capabilities to deliver the right solutions to meet specific industry challenges.

And finally, Greening “With” Emerson is using Emerson’s voice, global reach, and unique technology perspectives to work around the world with governments, industry groups, and research institutions on credible pathways to the future.