OREANDA-NEWS. The start of this year’s Schneider Electric Paris Marathon, the 40th anniversary of the race, will take place on April 3, 2016, on the Champs-Elys?es, a prestigious event that reflects the values of Schneider Electric.

Schneider Electric has been the title sponsor since 2012, working with ASO to create unforgettable experiences for runners and spectators alike. Just recently ASO and Schneider Electric have deepened their collaboration to turn the 2016 Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris into the most connected marathon of the world - connecting all 57,000 runners through a community app to track their training progress, exchange performance statistics and to motivate the participants through a series of challenges. Today, the app becomes the live tracking tool for the race, giving friends and family easy access to monitor the progress of the runners along the course.

With the extension of the sponsorship to 2019, Schneider Electric and ASO are focused on expanding from the most connected marathon to the most sustainable. Schneider Electric will work with ASO to make the race the first carbon- neutral marathon. To start with, Schneider Electric will compensate 50% of the carbon emission of the 40th edition of the race through carbon credits generated in Kenya thanks to the Hifadhirural energy savings project developed by Livelihoods. Schneider Electric and ASO are planning to make the Marathon Carbon neutral within two years.

Schneider Electric is uniquely equipped to lead the charge on carbon-neutrality for the Marathon given its focus on sustainability within its own business and helping customers around the world achieve greater efficiency and emissions reductions. Four times a year, Schneider Electric publishes the Planet & Society Barometer, its internal scorecard to measure sustainability and efficiency efforts, which shows Schneider Electric well ahead of industry standards on these important measures. Schneider Electric has also been recognized consistently for sustainability efforts by external organizations over nearly 15 years, including inclusion on The Corporate Knights’ Global 100 since 2012, Ethisphere’s World's Most Ethical Companies since 2011, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices since 2002, and the CDP’s Global Climate Change Report since 2013.

Besides this, Schneider Electric’s team of 3,000 employee, customer and partner runners will help promote #HeforShe, the solidarity movement by UN in favor of gender equality in which Schneider Electric is a key participant.  Team Schneider Electric will proudly wear the #HeforShe logo on all race jerseys. This follows a huge #HeForShe mobilization for gender equality within Schneider Electric in which 23,000 male employees signed the #HeForShe online petition.

Finally, in conjunction with this year’s marathon, and in the spirit of progress within energy and sustainability, Schneider Electric will be hosting its first global Life is On Innovation Summit alongside the Salon du Running at Porte de Versailles. The Summit will host Schneider Electric customers, partners, media and analysts to explore the innovations helping the society to transition to a new world of energy.

“At Schneider Electric, we are proud to be the title sponsor to the Marathon de Paris and to be associated with one of the most popular sporting events in the world,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO Schneider Electric. “We support the value of performance, resilience and team spirit that prevails within marathoners. We also endorse and support the ambition of the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris to become carbon neutral by 2018”.