The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) today hosted its first major event of the year at the Guildhall in the City of London.
TPT Co-chairs Amanda Blanc, Aviva CEO, and HM Treasury Lords Minister Baroness Penn announced:
- A call to action to the market to publish transition plans this year
- New members and observers to the TPT Delivery Group
- The next phase of the TPT Sandbox to accelerate new capabilities to support preparers and users of transition plans. See the call for proposals here.
- New TPT Working Groups, including on nature, adaptation and just transition.
The TPT workplan will support the development of robust transition plans to support improved financial decision making and capital allocation across the real economy.
The TPT will also inform future regulation. The FCA has committed to draw on the TPT’s outputs to strengthen disclosure requirements for listed companies and regulated firms, and encourages early engagement with the TPT Framework.
Call to Action for preparation of transition plans
A significant increase in the quality and quantity of private sector transition plans is required to help enable the UK transition to net zero. In analysis recently prepared by CDP[1], of those organisations who have disclosed a transition plan, only 0.4% had a credible plan. Today, Amanda Blanc and Baroness Penn will call on financial firms and real economy companies to accelerate their production of high-quality transition plans.
TPT members and observers
New members and observers to the TPT Delivery Group will support the TPT’s aim to build robust, market-wide recommendations. New members are: Diageo, SSE and Railpen. New observers are: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, the Financial Reporting Council, and The Pensions Regulator.
Expanded transition plan Sandbox
The TPT will also expand the Sandbox to accelerate new capabilities that can support users (e.g. investors, banks, analytics providers) and preparers (e.g. firms) of transition plans. Developers participating in the Sandbox can benefit from: facilitated access to preparers and users of transition plans to help test, refine, and scale capabilities; access to matchmaking and showcasing events; signposting to datasets, models and tools, including through the UK Centre for Green Finance and Investment (CGFI) and access to expertise from TPT and CGFI experts.
Access the call for proposals here.
TPT Working Groups
There is increased demand for guidance on transition plans and wider sustainability issues such as nature, adaptation and just transition. The first phase of the TPT in 2022 considered the interdependencies between climate transition plans and other sustainability topics. The TPT will explore wider areas through new Working Groups on nature, adaptation and just transition.
The TPT will also commence work on debt and credit, the application and utility of transition plans in emerging markets and developing countries, and supporting small and medium sized enterprises in the transition plan journey.
Quotes
Amanda Blanc, Group CEO of Aviva and Co-Chair of the TPT, said:
“Momentum is building on transition plans but this will only be sustained by firm action, a will to change and our ability to think beyond our own businesses. The TPT is there to help – not only through guidance, but also by connecting businesses together. I hope in 2023 we will start to see transition plans at every level – with companies, countries and international institutions setting out their routes towards a net zero future.”
Baroness Penn, Treasury Lords Minister and Co-Chair of the TPT, said:
“As co-chair of the TPT, I am pleased to see the great progress that has been made since its establishment, having completed its first phase of work to produce a draft Disclosure Framework and Implementation Guidance which launched for consultation at COP27.
Transition planning is a crucial part of our path to net zero as it is the connective tissue between where firms are now and where they want to be. The TPT’s work is a huge step forward in setting out clear recommendations for the preparation and disclosure of high-quality plans.
I am pleased to announce today that key Government departments and regulators will join as observers of the TPT Delivery Group, and that the TPT will launch new Working Groups to inform its future work. I look forward to seeing the TPT’s progress in 2023.”
Sacha Sadan, FCA Director of Environment Social and Governance and TPT Steering Group Member, said:
“I’m delighted with the strong engagement on the TPT’s world-leading and critically important work so far. The FCA is committed to playing its part in the TPT Disclosure Framework. Through our links with regulators internationally, we will promote global consensus around the key elements of the Framework. We encourage listed companies and financial services firms to engage early with the Framework and accelerate their preparation of high-quality transition plans. I look forward to building a vibrant ecosystem around clear transition plan disclosures that helps us all prepare better for a low-carbon future.”
Tanya Steele, CEO of WWF-UK and TPT Steering Group Member, said:
“The businesses and financial institutions we work with on the Taskforce recognise that climate change and nature loss drive each other – they are two sides of the same coin and it is important that the current guidance recognises this. Restoring nature is one of the most cost-effective ways to tackle climate change. Businesses must show they are serious about playing their part both by tackling the drivers of biodiversity loss in their supply chains and taking measures to help restore nature.”
Sarah Breeden, Bank of England Executive Director and TPT Steering Group Observer, said:
“Economy wide transition plans are fundamental to enabling the financial system to allocate capital and manage risks through the transition. That is key to financial stability as facilitating an early and orderly transition will bring the fewest costs and greatest opportunities. Toward that goal, the taskforce’s framework will help firms to disclose credible and comparable transition plans.”
Rachel McEwen, CSO of SSE and new TPT Delivery Group Member, said:
“Generally, there’s no shortage of climate targets amongst big businesses. What there is, however, is a shortage of first-class action plans that deliver the targets. That’s why the Transition Plan Taskforce is so important. We need a gold-standard framework, aligned to the real world, providing businesses with the guidance they need to make their targets a reality.”
Chandra Gopinathan, Senior Investment Manager at Railpen and new TPT Delivery Group Member, said:
“As part of the TPT Delivery Group, Railpen is excited to contribute to the development of credible, robust and investable climate transition plans. Helping to identify stewardship and investment opportunities to address systemic climate risk is of vital importance in delivering their purpose to secure their members futures.”
Available for comment
The following spokespeople are available for comment, please reach out directly or contact secretariat@transitiontaskforce.net / +44 (0)7783 787 863.
Dr Ben Caldecott, Co-Head, Secretariat, TPT
ben.caldecott@smithschool.ox.ac.uk
Kate Levick, Co-Head, Secretariat, TPT
Jacques Morris, Team Leader, Secretariat, TPT
jacques.morris@smithschool.ox.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
- The TPT was announced at COP26 by then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, as part of the UK’s ambition of being the first-ever net zero aligned global financial centre. For more information see About – TPT.
- On 8th November, at COP27, the TPT launched the Disclosure Framework and Implementation Guidance for public consultation until 28th February 2023.
- The FCA has committed to drawing on the TPT’s outputs to strengthen disclosure requirements on transition plans for listed companies and regulated firms. The FCA encourages early engagement with the TPT’s proposed Disclosure Framework and Implementation Guidance. See the December 2022 Primary Market Bulletin.
- The TPT Secretariat is run by Dr Ben Caldecott, Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group & Director, UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment and Kate Levick, Associate Director, E3G. The Secretariat Team Leader is Jacques Morris, Head of Policy, UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment and Group Policy Lead, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group.
- The TPT is bringing together leaders from finance, business, civil society, academia, government, and regulators. Diversity of views is represented throughout the Steering Group and Delivery Group. For more information see People – TPT.
