Transition planning is moving ahead at pace, despite the interventions of US president Donald Trump, such as the US leaving the Paris Climate Agreement.
That was the view of William Attwell, director, climate research, at credit rating agency Fitch, who said a recent review of the largest corporate bond issues showed “the vast majority of companies are maintaining their climate commitments or in some cases are increasing them”.
In a Fitch-supported session at ACT’s Annual Conference called ‘Transition planning: What’s shaping the market?’, Attwell said the findings were important in the context of “many people asking if the Paris Agreement was now dead” or “if the 1.5-degree target of Paris was a lost cause”.
A transition plan can help to demonstrate to stakeholders that if we’re not green now, we have a credible plan to decarbonise as well as manage the risks and opportunities that stem from climate change
He said that how these commitments can now be achieved was the focus of transition planning, which seeks to build in specific corporate goals and understand what actions companies are taking to achieve them.
“A transition plan can help to demonstrate to stakeholders that if we’re not green now, we have a credible plan to decarbonise as well as manage the risks and opportunities that stem from climate change,” added Atwell.
Matthew Hewitt, head of sustainable capital markets EMEA at BNP Paribas, said the French bank was seeing a far more proactive approach from corporate treasury teams in setting out a transition plan, compared with a few months ago.
“They’re talking about everything form the targets being set to setting the dates for those targets, and the funding that’s going to be required. The other interesting aspect is we are seeing more data-driven reporting,” he added.
We have certain expectations, certain criteria that we like to ask as we evaluate the investments we make
Asked how Amundi Investment Solutions is engaging with corporates on transition planning by facilitator Hannah Vanstone, senior associate director of the Loan Market Association, the investment firm’s head of climate Aaron McDougall, said: “We have certain expectations, certain criteria that we like to ask as we evaluate the investments we make.
“This isn’t purely born out of a moral position, this is due to unpriced financial risk. When we look at certain sectors of the economy where change is happening, we would like to know that the companies we are investing in are prepared for that change and are able to pivot.
“We want to be sure that they know what the risks may be, what the opportunities are, and therefore we can have surety in the security of our investment.”
Steffen Kram, managing director of sustainability solutions at Spanish bank Santander CIB, said: “Corporate treasurers need to ask: How can I manage risks for the various financial counterparties that I’m facing, and that might be with bonds, publicly traded instruments, credit facilities, trade finance, supply chain finance, export credit agencies and so on.
“A [company’s] transition plan will enable banks to figure how to place the company within their portfolio and strategy commitments that banks have undertaken. Given 2030 is a very important deadline for many institutions, treasurers need to look at their core banking group and understand their climate commitments.”
Lawrie Holmes is a business and finance journalist. This article is based on comments made during a panel session at the recent ACT Annual Conference, held in May 2025.