Siemens Q&A: Sustainability Transformation and the Role of Technology

By Lucy Roue

 Michael Combach is Vice President and Partner of Sustainability Consulting at Siemens.

He was a key speaker at pro-manchester’s Green Tech Conference and runs global projects ranging from ESG consultation to creating decarbonization roadmaps and energy strategies. 

How does sustainability compare to other business transformations?

For over ten years I’ve been driving transformations with my clients.

This includes reorganisations, digital transformation, energy system transformations and now there is the sustainability transformation.

They all have things in common but what I have seen in sustainability has a complexity which is unheard of before. I would call it the fifth Industrial Revolution.

What similar challenges do businesses face on sustainability?

There is siloed thinking and a lack of collaboration.

People in the regional offices may not be as aware of sustainability as those in head office. For change to work you must collaborate and make it an ecosystem gain.

There is usually only a handful of people in a company who are knowledgeable of sustainability so there is a lack of competency and capability.

Then there is the challenge of the business opportunity with new markets and business models to look at.

Understanding that not every investment is a good one just because it is green is important. It needs to be profitable, as well as sustainable, otherwise it won’t function.

And making sure leaders have a clear goal. Now 95% of companies have value statements but that’s only half of it, there must be a clear strategy too.

What is your stance on technology and the green agenda?

Technology is key overall to meet our agenda.

It is an exciting time and there are lots of opportunities. But for me technology, and especially AI, are still not leveraged enough.

Technology is the single most important means to achieving the global sustainability agenda, if we only knew what, when, where and how to use it.

It seems like we’re not using digitisation enough as we still collect manual data on site inspections and do pollution monitoring manually.

How can businesses make green tech work?

Technology for sustainability applications can unleash the biggest value if you integrate the tech stack, leverage data, and think in ecosystem.

We also need an entrepreneurial mindset to apply existing technologies to the green cause.

It is essential that we find green tech use cases. These opportunities will enhance the ESG performance of our own enterprise as well as for new business generation.

What green tech innovations are you seeing?

Digital battery passports are a big thing in the automotive industry right now.

AI is being used to forecast energy supply and demand and we’re seeing tech used for real time monitoring of critical infrastructure.

I had a project in Australia where we were simulating the response of the Great Barrier Reef to changes in temperatures, acidity, and sedimentation.

We did this using hardware like pumps and valves but also software with a control information system. We were trying to have a complete simulation of the Barrier Reef to human behaviour and then afterwards take preventative actions.

The Green Tech Conference 2023 by pro-manchester took place in March with Appleyard Lees as headline sponsor. Click here for event overview

Other sponsors included Bruntwood SciTech, Spencer Churchill, Bee Net Zero, Manchester Metropolitan University, BusinessCloud, Siemens and The Growth Company.