Key takeaways from our Building a Credible and Investable Transition Plan event

As the climate crisis accelerates, organisations are under growing pressure to show how they’ll transition to a low-carbon and resilient future. During the inaugural Edinburgh Finance Festival, we hosted a panel of experts from across investment, energy and assurance to discuss what makes a transition plan not just credible but genuinely investable.

The session was chaired by Fiona Donnelly, Director of Sustainability at ICAS, who was joined by Jo Walker from Royal London Group, Alex Sutton from SSE plc, and Alison Dundjerovic from Deloitte. Together, they explored how businesses can bridge the gap between ambition and action in their sustainability journey.

Why transition plans matter

Transition plans are much more than compliance documents. They’re strategic blueprints that guide organisations through a rapidly changing landscape. A well-designed plan can help your business understand and manage your climate risks, align with the expectations of investors and regulators, and create accountability within your operations. More importantly, it plays a vital role in the collective effort to decarbonise the wider economy.

In the UK, the Transition Plan Taskforce framework, launched in 2023, is becoming the leading standard for credible disclosures. The ongoing government consultation on transition plans, alongside an upcoming consultation on non-financial reporting expected before the end of the year, will influence how these frameworks evolve and how businesses integrate them into their reporting cycles.

What makes a transition plan credible

From an investor’s perspective, credibility is about clarity, evidence and alignment between words and actions. Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company, explained that credible plans set clear emissions targets, including Scope 1 and 2 emissions and material Scope 3 categories. They also define interim milestones to show how progress will be measured along the way.

Investors look for companies that can demonstrate how their capital expenditure supports the transition, how they’re engaging with suppliers to address emissions throughout the value chain, and whether their lobbying activities are consistent with their public climate commitments.

Transparency and governance complete the picture. A credible plan is backed by open and regular reporting, clear accountability structures, and honesty about the assumptions and dependencies that underpin the plan.

For SSE, a UK-listed energy company, the transition plan is both a strategic and operational tool. The company publishes its plan every three years, reports against it annually, and keeps it concise around 20 pages to ensure it remains accessible to investors and other stakeholders.

Investor engagement: Stewardship in action

The discussion also highlighted that genuine progress on climate issues comes through engagement, not divestment. Royal London emphasised that constructive dialogue with company leadership, active voting at annual general meetings, and collaboration through initiatives such as Climate Action 100+ are all essential tools for influencing change.

SSE’s experience reflects this shift. The company reported receiving far more investor engagement on its transition plan than on its previous climate disclosures under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. This shows that investors increasingly value forward-looking, action-oriented strategies over historic data.

Assurance: Challenges and the direction of travel

While some jurisdictions, such as the EU, have introduced mandatory assurance on sustainability reporting, it is currently unclear if a similar approach will be taken in the UK, as and when UK SRS reporting is introduced.

Alison Dundjerovic from Deloitte noted “currently we are not seeing demand for voluntary assurance on standalone transition plans but we do see an increasing number of companies obtaining voluntary assurance on selected metrics (which may form part of companies’ transition plans, if they have one)”. 

For example, a recent Deloitte survey on the readiness of UK companies for climate reporting under draft UK SRS found that 93% of sampled companies obtained external assurance over selected sustainability metrics, all of which included assurance of GHG emissions. What is clear from this trend is that external assurance is a critical area of stakeholder focus and helps to drive confidence and trust in sustainability reporting.

In the context of transition plan information, while assurance providers cannot guarantee the plan's ultimate outcome, they can significantly enhance the reliability of this forward-looking information. This can be achieved, for example, by assessing the strength of the governance processes underpinning the plan, the appropriateness of the assumptions used, and examining the accuracy of an organisation's previous forecasts to establish its credibility.

Beyond carbon: Considering nature and people

The panel agreed that the transition to a sustainable economy cannot focus solely on carbon. Organisations must also consider the interconnected challenges of nature and social impact. A credible plan should recognise the importance of biodiversity, ecosystems, and emerging frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Equally, the social dimension often described as a “just transition” is essential. This means supporting workers, suppliers and communities through the process of change. Royal London shared a meaningful example of this approach. Instead of ending a long-standing partnership with a paper supplier to cut emissions, the company worked with the supplier to support its digitisation strategy. This approach supports protecting jobs while still contributing to environmental goals.

The role of AI and ratings agencies

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly useful tool in sustainability reporting. It can help analyse disclosures, identify potential greenwashing and inform investor voting decisions. However, the panel also noted that current ESG ratings systems can be too simplistic. There’s a growing need for more nuanced assessments that capture future focused progress rather than relying solely on past performance.

Practical advice for organisations

For businesses developing or improving their transition plans, the message from the panel was clear. Start now; Waiting for the perfect plan only delays progress. Simplicity is powerful; Clear and concise plans are more effective than long, complex documents. Over time, sustainability should become part of core business strategy rather than a separate exercise. Above all, transparency matters. Organisations should be open about their assumptions, dependencies and progress, even when the data isn’t yet perfect.

A final thought

Transition plans aren’t only about cutting emissions. They’re about building resilience, seizing opportunity and demonstrating responsible leadership. As Jo Walker of Royal London summed up perfectly:

“We need the people retiring tomorrow to have money to retire with and the people retiring in 50 years to have a planet to retire into.”

Royal London published its first climate transition plan in June 2025.