In response to CDP’s 2022 Climate Change Questionnaire, over 18,600+ organisations replied, 4,100 saying had already developed a 1.5C-aligned climate transition plan, and only 81 of them reporting in sufficient detail to all 21 key indicators in the climate change questionnaire that align with a credible climate transition plan.

These 81 organisations represent 0.4 per cent of the entire disclosure sample, and a drop from the previous year when 135 organisations met the disclosure criteria to all key indicators. The reduction seen this year is based on CDP is, in part, due to the strengthening the disclosure criteria for what constitutes a credible climate transition plan.

Across the 13 industries assessed, power generation and infrastructure were the front runners with 2.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent of all organisations in each of these industries disclosing against all 21 key indicators of a credible climate transition plan.

The apparel, fossil fuels, and hospitality industries had the poorest levels of disclosure with only one organisation in each of these industries disclosing against all the 21 key indicators of a credible climate transition plan.

Whilst no geography had an outstanding record, Japan leads the regional assessment with 16 Japanese organisations disclosing to all 21 key indicators of a credible climate transition plan.

The disclosure figures come against a background of increasing pressure, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed climate disclosure regulation, including disclosure of climate targets and transition plans and regulation set to be implemented in the European Union (EU) as outlined in the draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). In addition, the publication of the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) Exposure Drafts on climate and general sustainability-related financial disclosures proposes a range of disclosures around an organisation’s transition plans and other industry-led coalitions including the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) are also applying pressure on organisations and financial institutions to develop and disclose transition plans.

Most recently at COP27 in November 2022, the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (UK TPT - convened by the Government post COP26) released the first draft of its Disclosure Framework, outlining requirements from publicly listed organizations and financial institutions in the UK to publish their climate transition plans. In January 2022, the FCA introduced rules for listed companies and large regulated asset owners and asset managers to disclose transition plans as part of their TCFD aligned disclosures, initially on a comply or explain basis.

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