Co-create transition plans with stakeholders  - Business in the Community

Co-create transition plans with stakeholders 

FUTUREPROOFING BUSINESS RECOMMENDATION TWO

Co-create transition plans with stakeholders 

Involve employees, young people, supply chains and communities in shaping transition plans that are fair, practical and trusted. 

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Transition planning is not just a technical exercise. It can affect people’s jobs, homes, bills, skills, local economies and everyday lives. The Creating a Future Ready Economy report calls on businesses to involve employees, young people, supply chains and wider communities in developing transition plans, moving from top-down consultation towards genuine co-design.1 A future-ready transition can be easier to understand and support when benefits are visible and tangible, such as warmer homes, lower bills, local jobs, good work, healthier places and stronger communities. 

Why does this matter for your business?

Public support for climate action remains significant, but it cannot be taken for granted. The latest Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Public Attitudes Tracker found that 77% of UK adults were concerned about climate change and 68% supported government action to reduce climate change in the UK, but concern has fallen from 85% in Autumn 2021.2

Recent research from King’s College London, Ipsos and CAST found that the share of the UK public who think the country should reach net zero sooner than 2050 fell from 54% in 2021 to 29% in 2025, while the share who think the UK does not need to reach net zero by 2050, or should not have a net zero target, rose from 9% to 26%.3 

This makes co-creation a practical business issue. Transition plans are more likely to be trusted and deliverable when people can see how action affects jobs, bills, skills, services and local places. Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute found that 76% of respondents said warmer homes that are more affordable to heat were important or very important to them, rising to 86% when considering importance to the UK as a whole.4

Businesses also need to engage different types of stakeholders. The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) Disclosure Framework says transition plans should include engagement with the value chain, industry peers, government, public sector bodies, communities and civil society, helping businesses understand barriers, improve plans and make benefits more visible.5

Risks and opportunities

If transition plans are developed without the people affected by them, they may look good on paper but be difficult to deliver in practice. For example, a business may set targets that depend on workers having new skills, suppliers collecting new data, customers changing behaviour, or communities accepting changes to local sites, without first understanding what support those groups need. If transition plans are developed without the people affected by them, they may look good on paper but be difficult to deliver in practice. For example, a business may set targets that depend on workers having new skills, suppliers collecting new data, customers changing behaviour, or communities accepting changes to local sites, without first understanding what support those groups need. 

For an individual business, this can create delivery risks such as low staff buy-in, missed skills needs, supplier non-compliance, customer complaints, project delays, higher costs, or reputational damage if people feel decisions have been made without them. 

This is becoming more important as expectations around transition planning develop. The TPT says transition plans should explain how businesses engage with their value chain, communities and other stakeholders.5 GRI also recognises that transition plans can affect workers and local communities.6 The opportunity is to make plans more practical and trusted from the start. Speaking to employees, suppliers, customers and communities early can help a business identify barriers before they become problems, design better support, and show clear benefits such as warmer homes, lower bills, new skills, good jobs and healthier places. 

Actions by maturity level

The sections below bring together suggested actions and relevant resources for each maturity level, helping business understand what action may be needed and which BITC resources can support them. 

Adopting

At the adopting stage, organisations are building awareness, understanding the issue and identifying where to start. 

Suggested Actions

  • Identify the groups most affected by your transition plans, including employees, suppliers, customers and communities. 
  • Review how stakeholders are currently consulted and where voices may be missing. 
  • Build internal understanding of the difference between consultation and co-creation. 
  • Start with practical engagement on a specific issue, place, site, product, service or supply chain. 

Resources to support action

What Skills are Needed to Support a Future Ready Economy?

Gives an accessible evidence base and next steps that help align internal stakeholders around green skills as a core part of a fair, co-created transition plan.

  • Use if: You need a quick evidence base and next steps to justify action on green skills.
  • What you’ll get: Summary of an evidence review on skills needed for a just transition, plus suggested next steps for responsible businesses.
  • How to use to create impact: Use as a leadership briefing; pull three evidence bullets and three ‘next steps’ into a one-slide internal comms pack.
Learn more

Embedding

At the embedding stage, organisations are integrating future-ready action into governance, processes, decision-making and delivery. 

Suggested Actions

  • Build co-creation into transition planning processes, governance and project timelines. 
  • Involve stakeholders early enough to influence decisions, not just respond to them. 
  • Create feedback loops so people can see how their input has shaped action. 
  • Work with trusted local partners to reach groups that may not usually engage with business. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use the guide to connect transition planning with the people who will need to help deliver it. 

  • Use if: You are formalising your transition planning process and need to identify who should be involved before decisions are fixed.
  • What you’ll get: A seven-step guide covering strategy, resources, nature, skills, stakeholder involvement, community resilience and measurement.
  • How to use to create impact: Use step four to identify the skills people may need, then use step five to map affected groups and decide where engagement should happen before plans are finalised. 
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Involving Diverse Stakeholders in Climate Action Routemap

Most relevant at this maturity level: the MAP section. Use it to build from existing relationships and understand which stakeholders are already engaged, which voices are missing, and where engagement needs to start earlier.

  • Use if: You want practical ways to improve wellbeing through workplace design, green space or employee engagement.
  • What you’ll get: Evidence summaries, intervention ideas and examples from BITC members.
  • How to use to create impact: Select one workplace intervention and one culture or engagement action to test with employees.
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Green Skills Lab Blueprint

Provides a repeatable process to diagnose skills needs and co-create a green skills action plan across functions, supporting structured planning and implementation. 

  • Use if: You want a sequential framework to co-create a green skills workforce action plan.
  • What you’ll get: Five-step blueprint to benchmark current skills, define future needs, and co-create a workforce action plan (built on lead/embed/include).
  • How to use to create impact: Use steps one to two to run a mini-baselining exercise; decide what data you have and what you need from HR/L&D and business units.
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Green Skills Lab: CITB Case Study

A green skills plan co-created with peers through the BITC Green Skills Lab. Shows a worked example of translating transition needs into a structured workforce plan, helping organisations co-design practical actions and communicate visible progress. 

  • Use if: You want an example of a practical workforce plan and skills tiering approach.
  • What you’ll get: An example green workforce plan that distinguishes basic knowledge, essential skills and technical skills, plus practical actions (communications, matrices, frameworks).
  • How to use to create impact: Copy the tier model; choose one team and draft what ‘basic/essential/technical’ looks like for them.
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Green Skills Lab: Suez Case Study

A green skills plan co-created with peers through the BITC Green Skills Lab. Demonstrates how organisations can identify skills impacts from operational change and co-design training/recruitment responses with relevant internal stakeholders. 

  • Use if: You want an example of skills baselining for operational transformation (circular/resource recovery).
  • What you’ll get:  An example of auditing job descriptions and capturing ‘hidden skills’, then how to use baseline assessments to shape training and recruitment.
  • How to use to create impact: Pilot the ‘JD audit & hidden skills’ approach for one job family; list missing skills and how you’ll validate them.
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Green Skills Lab: Insights and Lessons Briefing

Captures what enables action-learning programmes to translate stakeholder engagement into implementable actions, supporting more effective co-created transition delivery. 

  • Use if: You want evidence on the value of action-learning and peer learning and how to replicate it effectively.
  • What you’ll get: Distilled findings from an independent evaluation (what catalyses change, typical barriers, and recommendations for improving action-learning programmes).
  • How to use to create impact: Use the ‘insights’ section to design your internal learning sprint; add one mechanism for accountability after workshops. 
Learn more

Leading

At the leading stage, organisations are scaling action, influencing others and sharing learning across suppliers, partners and peers. 

Suggested Actions

  • Partner with employees, young people, suppliers and communities to design transition actions. 
  • Make benefits visible, such as lower bills, warmer homes, skills pathways, good jobs and healthier local environments. 
  • Share learning on what works and where co-creation has improved business decisions. 
  • Support suppliers and partners to adopt more inclusive transition planning approaches. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use the guide to check whether transition action is becoming practical and visible for employees, suppliers, customers and communities. 

  • Use if: You have a transition plan underway and want to improve delivery, buy-in and visible benefits for the people affected.
  • What you’ll get: A framework for connecting skills, stakeholder involvement, community resilience and transparent progress.
  • How to use to create impact: Use steps five and six to test each major action: who is affected, what benefit they will see, what support they need, and which partners should help deliver it.
Learn more
Involving Diverse Stakeholders in Climate Action Routemap 

Most relevant at this maturity level: the INVOLVE section. Use it to move beyond standard consultation and treat stakeholder insight as a valuable resource for designing better transition actions. 

  • Use if: You are ready to involve employees, suppliers, customers, communities or other affected groups in shaping practical transition decisions.
  • What you’ll get: Guidance on broadening consultation, valuing lived experience and stakeholder insight, using neutral facilitators or forums, and designing engagement that can change decisions rather than rubber-stamp plans.
  • How to use to create impact: Pick one transition issue where stakeholder insight could change the outcome. Agree what is open to influence, choose an engagement method, and build in feedback so participants see how their input was used. 
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Green Skills Lab: WJ Group Case Study

A green skills plan co-created with peers through the BITC Green Skills Lab. Illustrates a whole-system approach that connects workforce, suppliers and community considerations, reinforcing the value of multi-stakeholder co-design in transition planning. 

  • Use if: You want an example of connecting standards, skills and stakeholder involvement across the system.
  • What you’ll get: An example of embedding just transition thinking and upskilling (e.g., carbon literacy) while aligning with standards (e.g., ISO 14064, PAS 2080).
  • How to use to create impact: Identify which standards/frameworks you already use; list what new skills they require and where you’ll build capability first.
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Green Skills Lab: British Land Case Study

A green skills plan co-created with peers through the BITC Green Skills Lab. Shows how place-based partnerships can be used to co-create local skills pathways, making benefits visible through jobs, progression and community outcomes. 

  • Use if: You want an example of using place-based partnerships to grow green skills and opportunity locally.
  • What you’ll get: An example of mapping existing partnerships and adding green skills elements; linking site-level projects to future workforce needs.
  • How to use to create impact: Map your current community partnerships; add one ‘green skills’ module to an existing programme and agree simple measures. 
Learn more

Transforming

At the transforming stage, organisations are helping reshape markets, places or systems so that people, nature and business can thrive together. 

Suggested Actions

  • Champion co-design as a standard part of credible transition planning. 
  • Work across sectors to develop shared approaches to community engagement and inclusive decision-making. 
  • Support communities to shape, own and benefit from transition projects. 
  • Use your influence to show that fair and inclusive transition planning strengthens delivery, trust and long-term value. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use the guide to make inclusive transition planning part of business governance, investment and long-term accountability. 

  • Use if: You want stakeholder voice and place-based action to become part of how decisions are made, reviewed and reported.
  • What you’ll get: A framework for connecting transition planning with collaboration, community resilience, measurement and transparent reporting.
  • How to use to create impact: Use steps five to seven to turn engagement findings into decisions, publish progress, and set a regular review cycle so stakeholder input keeps shaping future action.
Learn more
Involving Diverse Stakeholders in Climate Action Routemap 

Most relevant at this maturity level: the ACT section, especially Embed Dialogue in Business Planning, Prioritise Needs, Incorporate Success and Demonstrate Action. Use it to institutionalise stakeholder voice in strategy. 

  • Use if: You want stakeholder engagement to become a permanent part of transition planning, governance and place-based delivery.
  • What you’ll get: Guidance on translating engagement into action, prioritising what matters to stakeholder groups, demonstrating how views influenced strategy, sharing learning and building long-term trust.
  • How to use to create impact: Turn engagement findings into specific strategy or project changes. Publish a simple “you said, we did, or why not” response, then set a repeat engagement cycle and governance route for future decisions.
Learn more

References

1. Business in the Community. (2025) Creating a Future Ready Economy. Available at: https://www.bitc.org.uk/report/creating-a-future-ready-economy/ (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

2. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2026) DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Headline findings, Winter 2025, UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/desnz-public-attitudes-tracker-winter-2025/desnz-public-attitudes-tracker-headline-findings-winter-2025-uk (Accessed: 9 June 2026).

3. King’s College London, Ipsos and Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations. (2026) Declining urgency, enduring support: public attitudes to net zero and climate policy. Available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/declining-urgency-enduring-support-public-attitudes-to-net-zero-and-climate-policy.pdf (Accessed: 9 June 2026).

4. Imperial College London Grantham Institute. (2023) How does the UK public view the co-benefits of climate action? Available at: https://granthaminstitute.com/2023/11/08/how-does-the-uk-public-view-the-co-benefits-of-climate-action/ (Accessed: 9 June 2026).

5. Transition Plan Taskforce. (2023) Disclosure Framework. Available at: https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/knowledge-hub/resources/tpt/disclosure-framework-oct-2023.pdf (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

6. Global Reporting Initiative. (2025) GRI 102: Climate Change 2025. Available at: https://globalreporting.org/pdf.ashx?id=29514 (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

Explore the other Futureproofing Business recommendations

Recommendation One

Embed action for a future-ready economy in core strategy 

Make sure social inclusion, climate resilience and nature recovery are recognised within business models, embedding responsible business into core strategy rather than treating it as an add-on. 

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Recommendation three

Invest in building resilience with the communities you serve 

Use your purchasing power, partnerships and investment to support community wealth-building, help SMEs and social enterprises become more resilient, and enable local ownership of assets such as renewable energy, retrofit and nature-based projects. 

Learn More

Thank you to Royal London

These resources have been collated by Business in the Community with support from Royal London, building on the insights and recommendations from the Creating a Future Ready Economy report.