Transition Plan Taskforce releases asset owner guidance
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The Pensions Regulator has welcomed the publication of the final set of transition plan resources by the Transition Plan Taskforce, including guidance for asset owners and managers, in a further sign that transition planning is coming into greater focus.
The Transition Plan Taskforce published its final set of transition plan resources on Tuesday. The documents are designed to help businesses build a transition plan to net zero.
Last November, the TPT launched a consultation on sector-specific guidance for asset owners and managers among others. The final guidance has now been published as the taskforce’s two-year mandate comes to an end.
Mark Hill, TPR’s climate and sustainability lead, said: “Transition planning is a developing area. While not a legal requirement on trustees, it is likely to be integral to achieving the UK’s net zero ambitions. It is also important for the effective management of material climate-related financial risks and opportunities by the pensions industry.”
Hill was an observer on TPT’s working group for asset owner guidance. The group included representatives from Railpen, the BT Pension Schemes, the Church of England Pensions Board, Merseyside Pension Fund and Nest, alongside commercial pension firms, investor groups and campaigners.
In a blog in February, Hill suggested that even though adopting the recommendations by the UK Transition Plan Taskforce – or the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures or Taskforce for Social Factors – is not mandatory, “trustees would do well to familiarise themselves with them”.
He also wrote: “Whether transition plans afford an opportunity for more effective disclosure compared with TCFD, as some suggest, is something to explore and discuss.”
The materials published on Tuesday are:
Sector-specific transition plan guidance for asset owners, asset managers, banks, electric utilities and power generators, food and beverage, metals and mining, and oil and gas.
Sector summary guidance, with high level guidance for 30 sectors of the global economy. Guidance on how to undertake a transition planning cycle.
A paper on the opportunities and challenges of transition plans in emerging markets and developing economies.
Independent advisory pieces from TPT working groups on adaptation, nature, just transition and SMEs, exploring how transition planning can extend beyond realising net zero.
The government announced the taskforce at UN’s COP26 conference in 2021, when the UK committed to move towards making publication of transition plans mandatory. In August last year, the Financial Conduct Authority said it would consult in 2024 on rules and guidance for listed companies to disclose in line with the UK-endorsed ISSB standards and the TPT Framework as a complementary package.
