Transition Plan Content Index

Thousands of companies have set ambitious, interim 2030 carbon reduction goals and pledged net-zero emissions by 2050. Yet, corporate net-zero goals are insufficient in the absence of transition plans that are science-based, transparent, verifiable, and accompanied by aligned actions and investments. For many companies that have a transition plan it is often not contained in a stand-alone document – instead, plan elements are most often found in an existing publication such as an annual sustainability report or on a company website. 

A core set of leading frameworks, including guidance from the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT), and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), were identified for inclusion in the initial version of the index. Users should fill out the template with element information for each selected framework. Within relevant source documents, the user should add references to disclosure through the index and a copy of the completed index to the appendices section of the document. 

Transition Plan Content Index Use

The Transition Plan Content Index is contained in a Microsoft Excel workbook.  The workbook includes instruction and reference tabs, as well as tabs that contain templates for transition planning frameworks from GFANZ, TPT, ISSB, and ESRS.  

Companies using the Transition Plan Content Index templates should: 

• Indicate whether the disclosure element is included in the transition plan 

• For each disclosure element that is not included provide an explanation for its absence in the Notes section, including: 
  • A brief explanation for why the element is missing 
  • Plans for including the element in the future 
  • The timeline for including missing elements 

• Fill in the location for each transition plan element in the reference document  

• The index should be included as an Appendix to the source document, and labeled clearly as a transition plan index 

• The transition plan index should be included in its entirety – no portions of the index should be edited or removed 

• The transition plan index appendix should be included in the source document table of contents 

Examples of Transition Plan Index Disclosure and Source Document Appendix

Transition Plan Index disclosure with location information for included elements and additional context for omitted elements 

Inclusion of Transition Plan Index in Appendix of source document  

For further questions or inquiries please reach out to Nicholas Franco, Director of Corporate Low Carbon Transition Planning at francon@c2es.org or Naila Karamally, Corporate Low Carbon Transition Planning Fellow at karamallyn@c2es.org.