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A Climate Transition Plan is a strategic document that sets out how a business will reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to a low-carbon future.
It goes beyond pledges by turning ambition into action, laying out specific goals, timelines, and steps to reach Net Zero. These plans typically address all relevant emissions sources - from onsite energy use to supply chain and product distribution - and are increasingly seen as essential to long-term business resilience.
For many businesses, especially in high-emission sectors, a transition plan also signals accountability. It’s a way to show customers, investors, and regulators that climate risks and opportunities are being taken seriously, with transparent plans in place to respond.
A Climate Transition Plan can help you and your team stay ahead of the curve – both in terms of regulation and reputation. For businesses, it can strengthen investor confidence, meet growing customer expectations, and support applications for sustainability-linked financing or public procurement. For larger businesses, i's also now a requirement for B Corp certification.
Internally, a plan acts as a unifying roadmap. It aligns teams across operations, finance, logistics, and procurement, creating shared goals that help prioritise and justify change. From fleet upgrades to energy audits, it helps focus effort where it matters most – with the evidence to support investment.
Read our article on how to put together a Climate Transition Plan, from the perspective of B Corps
The process starts with measurement. You'll need to calculate your GHG emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 to understand where your biggest impacts lie.
From there, it’s about setting targets (both short and long-term) that reflect your ambitions and operational realities.
Once your targets are in place, the plan should outline how you’ll get there. This means identifying emissions reduction actions, assigning responsibility, estimating costs, and scheduling implementation. Governance and progress tracking are equally important - without them, even the best-laid plans risk stalling.
If you’re starting from scratch, it might seem daunting, but you don’t need to achieve perfection at once! Begin by collecting data you can easily access across your business to establish baseline emissions, and build up data quality from there over time.
What is key is that your Climate Transition Plan is practical, data-led, and tailored to your business. It's important to reflect honestly on the real-life challenges you face in your plan to reduce emissions, from technical obstacles to the need for financial investment. Even identifying a few key actions, like switching to hybrid vehicles or improving supplier engagement, can demonstrate momentum.
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Some common questions answered around our template.
It depends on your size, sector, and resources - but clarity is key. A good plan outlines specific actions, target dates, expected emissions reductions (where known), estimated costs, and who’s responsible for delivery. Even if some details are still being worked out, including indicative timelines and intentions gives the plan structure and direction.
Yes - at least to some extent. While Scope 3 emissions (e.g. supply chain, product use, logistics) can be harder to measure and influence, they often account for the majority of a business’s carbon footprint. Even a high-level estimate or a phased approach to Scope 3 shows credibility. Many businesses use intensity-based targets (like emissions per product or per employee) to track Scope 3 progress while they grow.
Absolute targets set a firm cap on emissions, regardless of business growth (e.g. “cut total emissions 50% by 2030”). Intensity targets allow emissions to scale with activity (e.g. “cut emissions per employee by 30%”). Both have value: absolute targets show ambition, while intensity metrics offer flexibility during growth or operational change. Many businesses use both.
Actions should directly reduce emissions or support decarbonisation. This can include improving energy efficiency, switching to renewable electricity, transitioning to EVs, changing materials, or working with suppliers to reduce their emissions. Plans often include both “quick wins” and long-term projects, with different levels of cost, complexity, and impact. It can also include strategies for improving your data coverage or accuracy over time.
You don’t have to, but alignment with recognised frameworks (like the GHG Protocol for measurement, or SBTi for targets) increases credibility and comparability. For regulated sectors or larger businesses, standards may be required.
Book a demo or get in touch and we'll be happy to help.
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