‘Climate Transition Plan Scorecard’ to help accelerate corporate environmental action in Ireland
Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) and the DCU Institute for Climate and Society are today announcing an innovative partnership to accelerate corporate environmental action in Ireland. This partnership, an element of BITCI’s Accelerate: The Business Pact for Climate and Nature campaign, will focus on developing the ‘Climate Transition Plan Scorecard’.
It will involve assessing the quality of signatories’ Climate Transition Plans – an organisation’s implementation plan to achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions targets within a specified timeframe. The BITCI Accelerate campaign encourages and supports business leaders to set a science-based net-zero target by 2050, if not earlier, and to develop a robust and credible Climate Transition Plan to guide and track implementation.
Meaghan Carmody, BITCI Senior Sustainability Adviser said, “Creating and disclosing strategic plans for climate transition is a relatively new market practice which is rapidly becoming a market norm. However at the last check, in Ireland only 150 companies submitted Climate Transition Plans to CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), and of these, half submitted too “few” of the indicators of credibility. Only one of these reported on all indicators. This creates an unprecedented opportunity to support strategic planning by firms in Ireland. We are delighted to be working with the DCU Institute for Climate and Society on this project, because they too understand that Climate Transition Plans helps transform a signatory company’s ambition into action, increasing their resilience and competitiveness in what is a rapidly destabilising environment.”
Signatories will be held accountable by their peers by an annual comparison of their latest Climate Transition Plan, receiving an overall assessment and a score in nine areas: governance, targets, decarbonisation, supply chain, nature, just transition, risk, finance and advocacy. The scorecard will be collated by BITCI and an expert panel at the DCU Institute for Climate and Society, with its first publication due in November 2025.
This in turn feeds into the creation of a Centre of Excellence for Climate Transition Plans which is a core ambition for BITCI’s Accelerate campaign. Through collaboration, analysis and review all signatories will benefit from best-in-class supports and resources to ensure their respective Climate Transition Plans are robust and achievable.
Dr. Diarmuid Torney, Director of the DCU Institute for Climate and Society said, “The DCU Institute for Climate and Society is delighted to partner with BITCI on the Climate Transition Benchmark project. This project leverages expertise from across the Institute, engaging researchers in climate science, business, geography and environmental systems, climate policy and finance, highlighting the diversity of disciplines involved in the Institute. The research will have important implications for industry, policy and society. In evaluating the Climate Transition Plans of leading Irish companies, we hope to identify gaps in current best practice and highlight opportunities for more holistic corporate action on climate and nature.”
Additionally, BITCI is also today celebrating the tenth signatory to its ambitious Accelerate Pact – Kyndryl Ireland. Kyndryl is the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider.
Chris Davis, MD of Kyndryl Ireland said, “I am delighted that Kyndryl Ireland has signed Accelerate: The Business Pact for Climate and Nature, in response to the need for greater urgency to reduce the impact of climate change and the loss of biodiversity, both of which have implications for business and society. Signing this pact demonstrates Kyndryl’s commitment to accelerate corporate environmental action – within its own company and for its customers”.
Ms. Carmody said on the announcement, “We are delighted to be welcoming Kyndryl Ireland to the Accelerate Pact community and commend them for sending a clear market signal that taking action to be resilient in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss is not risky – it’s just good business.”
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