Members of the UK government-mandated Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) are working on a technical briefing paper on incorporating Just Transition considerations into its recommendations, Responsible Investor reports.
The TPT was launched by the Treasury this year, to develop a gold standard for climate transition plans, supporting efforts to tackle greenwashing in corporate disclosures. Under the rules announced by the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak at COP26, climate transition plans will be mandatory for large companies and certain financial sector firms from 2023.
The Taskforce is led by a steering group of private and public sector leaders, co-chaired by Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc and John Glen, who resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury on 6 July. It is supported by a delivery group of senior experts from across industry, academia and civil society.
The Just Transition briefing paper is being written by Delivery Group members the Grantham Institute, in collaboration with fellow members the Impact Investing Institute. It is set to be published in September.
Responsible Investor has seen a current draft detailing 11 potential recommendations for how financial institutions could incorporate Just Transition principles in their net-zero plans.
Among the suggestions, financial institutions are called on to commit to embedding Just Transition principles as part of the overarching goals, ambitions and foundations of their net-zero transition plans, as well as through the investment process across all asset classes.
On a larger scale, all net zero and climate initiatives in the finance sector should include a commitment to support the Just Transition as part of their frameworks and conditions for membership, the draft says.
Just Transition and the green economy.
The ERBD defines a Just Transition as ensuring that “the substantial benefits of a green economy transition are shared widely, while also supporting those who stand to lose economically – be they countries, regions, industries, communities, workers or consumers.”
At the 2018 COP24 climate conference, 53 countries signed the Just Transition Declaration, which recognised the need to factor in the needs of workers and communities to build public support for a rapid shift to a zero-carbon economy.
