Taskforce unveils UK ‘gold standard’ guidelines for businesses – October 9, 2023 at 11:12 am

(Alliance News) – A UK Treasury taskforce has unveiled “gold standard” guidance for companies reporting their plans to tackle climate change.

The Transition Plan Task Force, which includes members such as Aviva PLC, London Stock Exchange Group PLC, NatWest Group PLC and Unilever PLC, published its final “disclosure framework” for companies’ transition plans on Monday.

The task force said the guidelines provide the basis for companies to disclose credible plans as part of their annual reports on future business strategy.

They said companies must take a strategic and comprehensive approach to address their impact and explain how they will achieve climate targets, manage climate-related risks and contribute to achieving net zero.

This includes defining interim milestones and detailed steps to change business and investment models.

Plans should also address how employees will be supported and what additional training or retraining will be required, the task force said.

In addition to the Guidelines, TPT has also issued other materials, including specific guidelines for 40 industries, technical overviews and comparisons with other well-known reporting frameworks, an implementation guide, and legal considerations for reporting companies.

The Treasury launched the TPT program last year with a promise that large companies in high-emitting sectors would be subject to new net-zero emissions disclosure requirements from 2023.

The final documents published on Monday build on the global foundation of disclosure standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board and build on the work of the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero.

The working group said the framework will support the creation of consistent and comparable business reports and reduce the complexity faced by businesses.

“Under our leadership of Cop26, the government has announced that the UK will authorize the publication of transition plans as part of our drive to become the world’s first net-zero financial centre,” said Joanna Benn, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Co-Chair of TFT. .

“The Task Force on Transition Planning, which was only launched in April 2022, has now accomplished its core mission of developing the gold standard for private sector climate transition planning.

“The transparency and accountability that transition plans provide is vital to the fundamental business and financing transformation needed to move the entire economy to net zero and a climate resilient future.”

Amanda Blank, Aviva Group CEO and co-chair of TPT, said: “It is great to see more and more companies announcing their net zero ambitions, but these are of little use if there is no action or accountability.”

“It is vital that we support our zero emissions ambitions with clear, high-quality transition plans if we are to collectively achieve zero emissions.

“The TPT disclosure framework will help companies understand what makes a strong and credible climate transition plan.”

By Rebecca Spear Cole, PA Sustainability Correspondent

Press Association: Finance

My brother: the Palestinian Authority

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