HM Treasury has launched the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) to "develop the gold standard" for climate transition plans for UK companies.
The taskforce is developing a regime which will require financial institutions and listed companies to create "rigorous and robust transition plans".
TPT has a two-year mandate to establish good practice for transition plans, which will inform the implementation of the UK's Sustainability Disclosure Requirements.
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It plans to fulfil this mandate through three workstreams which will create:
- A sector-neutral framework for private sector transition plans
- Sector-specific guidance for finance and real economy sectors
- Recommendations for companies preparing transition plans and stakeholders, such as investors, using them.
Sacha Sadan, director of ESG at the Financial Conduct Authority, said the regulator will work with TPT to "promote global consistency and comparability in the disclosure of transition plans".
"We expect to draw on the taskforce's outputs to encourage well-governed and credible transition plans, building on existing TCFD guidance which we have already integrated into our climate-related disclosure rules for listed companies and regulated firms," she explained.
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The taskforce is led by a Steering Group of private and public sector leaders, co-chaired by Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen and CEO of Aviva Amanda Blanc. It is supported by a "delivery group" comprised of senior experts from across industry, academia and civil society.
Glen said the TPT "brings together an impressive range of forward-thinking stakeholders to ensure firms can put together plans to aid our transition to a low-carbon economy".
The launch follows Chancellor Rishi Sunak's pledge at COP26 to make the UK the world's first net zero-aligned financial centre.
