69 Life Is On | Schneider Electric www.se.com 2021 Sustainable Development Report 2.12.2 Communities living around Schneider Electric’s customer projects sites In 2021, Schneider Electric has engaged into a review of risks for local communities residing close to the sites where the Group is implementing projects for customers. These projects can be, for example, the building of an electrical switchgear station to distribute electricity, either to the grid or to private large users (factories, professional buildings, etc.). Depending on the profile of the end-customer, these projects necessitate the on-site coordination of several types of contractors: civil engineering, industrial process experts, electricity specialists, communication infrastructure experts. Relations with local communities, when relevant, are usually handled by the main contractor, or by the end-customer. 2.12.2.1 Characterizing the sites, ranking them by risk level, and selecting the ones for a deep dive To identify the main sites presenting potential risks, Schneider Electric has pre-selected customer projects based on the combination of two criteria: country risk and customer activity. Country risk is a compound of several external publicly available indicators (transparency, human rights, etc.). Customer activity is based on the industrial process specific to the end-customer. For illustration, the top five risks are ranked as follows: Country Customer activity Chad Mining, minerals and metals Mauritania Oil, gas and petrochemicals Angola Power and grid Nigeria Life sciences Tanzania Water Based on these criteria, the Group has established a list of 25 projects to be reviewed with their management team. 2.12.2.2 Evaluating the impact for selected sites Projects reviewed can be grouped into three categories, each reflecting the type of involvement of Schneider Electric, and the mitigation capabilities of Schneider. • Type A: Schneider Electric is providing switchgear and/or industrial equipment, is also the main contractor for the project, and is present on site. Mitigation actions can be decided and implemented by Schneider. • Type B: Schneider Electric is providing switchgear and/or industrial equipment, but it is not the main contractor. Mitigation capabilities are limited. • Type C: Schneider Electric is providing software and control, and is mostly working remotely, being present on site only for final testing and commissioning. Mitigation capabilities are ver y low. Among the projects reviewed, 2 were of type A, 6 of type B, and 6 of type C. • 2 projects of type A: the study of these projects is showing the following risks and benefits on local populations: − Temporary/brief disturbance in the transportation and mobility due to large materials and equipment delivery. − Temporary and planned power outages. − No environmental or pollution risk. − Local security implemented by final customer, with no or little impact on the neighboring communities. − The project is a source of employment for local companies. • 12 projects of type B and C: among these projects, six are projects with significant impact on the local communities (petrochem, etc.) and six have no impact (desert or remote location). For these projects with significant impact, relations with local communities are handled by the end-user or the main contractor. Given the small size of Schneider Electric’s contribution to the overall project investment, the capacity of Schneider to be a significant contributor to the mitigation measures is very limited. Specific policies that would increase this capacity, adapted to these project profiles, are currently studied.