What is a transition plan? A practical guide
- Post Date
- 29 July 2026
- Read Time
- 3 minutes
What is a transition plan?
According to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and aligned regulations, such as the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), a climate-related transition plan is:
“An aspect of an organisation’s overall strategy that sets out its targets, actions, and resources for transitioning to a lower-carbon, climate-resilient future.”
Many companies still treat this primarily as emissions reduction targets and decarbonisation plans, but it goes beyond that. It is effectively a long-term business strategy for navigating the global energy and technology transition, driven by climate policy (learn more about this via our ASRS: Where to start for Mandatory Climate Disclosures webinar).
A credible transition plan connects three dimensions:
- Decarbonisation: Targets, pathways, and delivery mechanisms across Scope 1, 2, and 3
- Risk and resilience: Exposure to transition and physical risks across assets, operations and supply chains.
- Contribution to the broader transition: Implications for products, services, customers, suppliers, industry and competitive positioning.
Without this integration, transition plans tend to be technically correct but strategically disconnected.
From disclosure to strategy: transition plans are about operationalisation
One of the biggest challenges organisations face is moving from disclosure requirements to an operational plan.
A useful way to think about it is:
- IFRS and reporting regulations tells you what to disclose
- Transition planning frameworks help you determine how to do it
The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) framework, which is now managed by IFRS, provides a practical structure. This helps translate high-level commitments into actionable, auditable plans by breaking down the elements of transition plans into a consistent structure, that covers three core pillars of ambition, action and accountability.
Done well, it becomes not just a compliance tool, but a framework for navigating uncertainty and allocating capital in a transitioning economy.
Where to start
Companies developing their first transition plan do not need to tackle everything at once.
There are two key first steps that will enable a sensible and proportionate approach to transition planning:
1. Define the purpose:
- What are the key CRROs the company is exposed to?
- Where are your emissions hotspots?
- What are the drivers to develop the plan (compliance, investor pressure, strategic)?
2. Assess existing content and actions:
- What emissions calculations and targets are already in place
- What actions are being taken to navigate those
- What adaptation and mitigation actions have been identified for emerging Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities (CRROs)
- What strategic opportunities are already being pursued
A transition plan should not be a standalone piece of work, it is the culmination of a company’s climate and strategy work that will already be underway. Undertaking a mapping of existing actions against the TPT guidance can help companies understand gaps and prioritise new activities where needed, rather than reinventing the wheel.
Want to learn more?
Our webinar explores:
- What a “light-touch” vs best practice transition plan looks like.
- How to align with AASB S2 disclosures.
- Practical examples and next steps.
Watch the webinar or get in touch to discuss your organisation’s transition planning journey.
Watch webinar
